A Case of Two Hearts and One Killer
by countrygirl1986
Summary: Tony and Ziva get caught up in a deadly game of cat and mouse during a murder investigation gone terribly wrong. Will team Gibbs be able to save them in time? What will happen to Tony and Ziva during this crazy time? Rated M to be on the safe side.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: I own nada, zip, zero. *Sigh*….oh wait! I own the made up characters, so I guess that makes me feel a little better. Anyways, now on to the story!**

**And thank you to WAYAMY27NARF for being my beta - and very good friend! :D**

This Monday mid-morning at the end of March was nice and warm while I was checking into the Holiday Inn Express, West Virginia. This is going to be a great week of three short lectures at West Virginia University followed by golfing and relaxing. This is what I need after forcing some early retirement into some of my older colleagues.

"Mr. Snead, your room is ready, sir." The young brunette man snapped me out of my thoughts, "Your room is number 405. So just enter through this front door, go up the elevator here to your left, and once you reach the fourth floor, go to your right. If you have any questions or need anything, please don't hesitate to call us here at the front desk!"

"I will thank you." I replied grabbing my things and heading back out to park my car and grab my luggage.

Cautiously, I headed to my room, I couldn't shake the ominous feeling of being watched. I shouldn't have worried, after all, the hotel had cameras, and the guy was still at the front desk. It was a short ride in the elevator to my floor. When I finally made it to my room, I took a look around. To my right, is the standard hotel bathroom with the toilet and shower shut off from the sink and the rest of the room. After I walked over to the bed, I took note of the desk, TV, dresser, and fridge microwave combo on the right, and a large king bed with two nightstands on the left hand side. Out the window was an OK view, but I wasn't here for the view. There were more important priorities at hand, like golfing, for one, and the lectures, I suppose.

I set my stuff down on the bed right before sitting down on the bed myself. "Hmmmm, what to do first?" I thought. "I should probably figure out where I'm headed for my lectures." I made sure I had my wallet, picked up my car keys, and left for the parking lot. While I was making my way to my car, I bumped into a guy in the hallway. "Sorry." I said. All he did was reply in a grunt.

I didn't realize the amount of traffic around this university! By the time I got there, it took me fifteen minutes. "Not too bad, I thought to myself." I just can't believe how big this place is! I finally located the room in Woodburn Hall that I would be giving my lecture.

Climbing back into my car, my stomach started growling. I looked at my watch. I didn't realize it was 1600! Time for a good dinner! I drove over to the Outback Steakhouse, which was one of my favorites. Five short minutes later, I was following the hostess to my table. Man, it sure smells good in here!

An hour and a half later, a stomach filled with their succulent 'Bloomin' Onion' and 'Wood-Fire Grilled Pork Chop," I headed back to the hotel, and straight to the hotel bar.

"Scotch please." I ordered and paid for my drink. I turned around to see what was going on in the bar. I felt someone sit down beside me, so I tuned back around and moved my drink while acknowledging him. Two drinks later, I wasn't feeling so good. Must be the traveling, I thought.

Staggering, I made it back to my room. I can't find my room key. I was feeling even worse now. Seeing a maid walking by, I asked for her help in getting into my room. Luckily she was nice and helped me by opening the door without any trouble.

I went in shutting the door behind me. Instantly, fear washes over me.

"I wondered how long it would take you to get here." He said.

"Who, who are you?" I was slurring now.

"You know who I am." He said stepping into the hallway with me.

"What are you doing?" I said slumping down.

"Teaching everyone a lesson about forcing people to retire when they aren't ready." The man said while pulling out a long, sharp, shinny knife…..

**Now you all know what you need to do! So please PLEASE review and let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note – sadly, I still don't own anything but the made up characters. *sigh*

Also, thank you to everyone who reviewed and alerted my story!

"Tony, put that down!" Special Agent Ziva David exclaimed while walking over to her desk.

"Why? Don't you want to know what McWriter has in store for us?" One very Special Agent Anthony 'Tony' DiNozzo asked while standing behind McGee's desk. He had a standard notebook open in his hands.

"Curiosity killed the dog." Ziva said, but her curiosity was starting to get the best of her.

"It's cat. Curiosity killed the cat." Tony replied, never once looking up from the notebook. "Oh! What do we have here!"

"Do not tell me. I do not need to know." Ziva replied turning her attention to her computer. A minute went by, and she could just not take it anymore. "Fine, let me see! But if we get caught, you are on your own!"Ziva stood up and quickly made her way across the bullpen to where Tony was standing.

DING

As Special Agent Timothy McGee came off the elevator, he spotted Tony standing at his desk with paper in hand.

"Tony! That is private!" McGee exclaimed as he tried to grab the notebook out of Tony's hands.

"I told him that curiosity killed the cat." Ziva said returning to her desk proud that she had not been caught as well.

"Actually she said dog at first. But she looked too!" Tony blabbed while walking back over to his desk and ignoring the death look from Ziva. "Is this for your new book McGee?"

"Yes. Maybe. Not sure. And Ziva, I cannot believe that you snooped too – I can expect that from Tony." McGee said putting his gun, notebook, and badge in their places.

"You are right. I am sorry McGee." Ziva replied while holding up a paperclip in Tony's direction.

"Thank you Ziva." McGee replied signing onto his computer.

SMACK

"You should have listened to Ziva." Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs said while striding into the bullpen with his trademark cup of coffee.

"Sorry boss, thank you boss." Tony replied while rubbing the back of his head. Looking across the isle, he saw his fellow agents with smug looks on their faces, one particular, he couldn't get enough of – smug look or not.

"Grab your gear! Dead command sergeant major." Gibbs said while grabbing his gun, badge, gear, and anything else he might need while barking out orders. "DiNozzo, call Ducky! McGee, you're with me. DiNozzo, you and Ziva take the van. You drive DiNozzo." Walking by Tony's desk towards the elevator, he tossed the keys expertly to him.

"Where we headed, boss?" McGee asked while he finished grabbing his things.

"Morgantown, West Virginia." Gibbs replied and pressed the down button on the elevator.

"West Virginia boss?" McGee paused by the window.

"Yeah, you got a problem with that McGee?" Gibbs asked turning around.

"No problem." McGee said stepping into the elevator followed by Ziva.

"Good save McBig-Mouth." Tony said while rushing into the elevator.

"Tony!" All three replied in warning right before he was saved by the opening of the doors that marked their destination.

"Ah, Jethro, there you are!" Medical Examiner Donald "Ducky" Mallard greeted him when the doors opened. Ducky climbed out of the back of the coroner's van.

"Hey Duck. Are you ready to go?" Gibbs walked over to the Dodge Charger and put his gear in the trunk along with McGee. "Palmer." Gibbs acknowledged Ducky's assistant Jimmy Palmer also known as 'the autopsy gremlin' by Tony.

"H-hey guys." Palmer greeted nervously. He was always nervous around Gibbs with his icy blue stare of death.

"Ready as I will ever be." Ducky replied standing by the van.

"Good. McGee and I will take the lead, DiNozzo and David, and then Ducky and Palmer. Radio if you need to stop or if we get separated." Gibbs commanded before walking over to the driver's door of the charger.

When Gibbs got in and started the car the others in the group followed suit by going into their respective vehicles. One by one, the vehicles came to life and filed into a line out of the parking lot.

**Tony's POV**

_I can't BELIEVE that Gibbs told me to drive! _I thought to myself. I took a risk, looking over at Ziva, knowing full well that if I was caught, I would be injured – or worse, dead. She seemed to be radiating heat. _Oh yeah, she's pissed._ That's the conclusion I came to. I knew I better let her be. She would talk when she wasn't so mad. I have a feeling that this is going to be a long four hour drive!

"A nickel for your thoughts." She said in a voice still had a venom bite to it.

"Penny – it's a penny for your thoughts." I cautiously corrected her, which could go one of two ways: 1. I would die a slow painful death or 2. She would talk and not kill me.

"Whatever." I caught her rolling her beautiful brown doe eyes when she responded. "I just can NOT believe that Gibbs told you to drive! My driving is perfectly fine!" Yup, she was still fuming, but at least I wasn't dead.

It was time to break out the DiNozzo charm. I replied, "Maybe it's because everyone wants to live. " The charm gets them, every time.

"Ha Ha funny. " She turned back to looking out the window watching the miles roll by. A few minutes, and miles later, she turned back to me. "Okay….. Say I'm curious about that notebook you had earlier."

"You just couldn't stand it, could you? The mystery too much for you to handle!" I interrupted her, at full risk to my health, but I couldn't help it.

"Okay, okay. Yes it is!" She held on as long as she could, but that notebook had been on her mind since I had it this morning. I wondered how long it would take. I didn't get a chance to continue, because the radio sparked to life. Gibbs' grizzly voice boomed in the vehicle.

"DiNozzo, we are going to stop in half an hour to fuel up." Gibbs radioed in and broke up our conversation. I didn't realize that it had been an hour's drive already! Time flies when you are with the one you love, and I've loved her since the moment I met her.

"10-4 boss." I replied back.

"Good. I need the ladies room." I could see her shifting in her seat. "Maybe I can also convince Gibbs to let me drive." I could see the hope of that in her eyes.

"If so, 'Fasten your seat belts – It's going to be a bumpy ride!" I exclaimed with a smile on my face. Smiling while I recited that quote must have confused her, so before she could say anything, I quickly added, "You know, Margo Channing played by one Bette Davis in the 1950 film _All About Eve_."

"I should have known that that was a movie quote." She replied looking back out of the window. "I wonder what they have good on the radio?" She leaned up and flipped on the radio. Come to find out, all the stations that were coming in were country. "What would you like to listen to? County, country, or country?" She asked with a serious face.

"Did you just make a joke Zeeeevah?" I asked glancing over at her? Her serious face broke into a smile and she let out a chuckle. With her, it was always contagious to me – I chuckled too.

Apparently we were arriving close to the gas station because Gibbs slowed in front of us before using his turning signal. I followed suit trying to make sure Ducky and Jimmy were right behind us.

"I am so glad that we are close to that gas station now." She replied getting searching hard for the station coming up.

"Me too. I'm hungry." I knew instantly after that what she would say.

"You are always hungry Tony." She retorted back.

I was right, I knew that's what she would say. Hell, they would all say that. The closer we got to the station the more tension I could feel in her. We were closing in on ten miles off of the Hagerstown, Maryland exit when the Sheetz gas station came into view.

I followed Gibbs into the parking lot and up to a pump beside him. Before I could even put the truck in park, Ziva breathed a sigh of relief and jumped out of the truck. She was almost sprinting into the gas station. I couldn't help but laugh, and that got me a death glare. Between her and Gibbs with the glares, we have it covered because no criminal can escape.

**Ziva's POV**

I wish I had a chance to use the restroom before we left, I thought to myself as I very quickly made my way into the women's restroom in Sheetz. I was trying to think as the best way to talk Gibbs into letting me drive. I figured that a new cup of coffee and a sandwich might do the trick.

I left the restroom and went over to the order screens. On my way over though, I looked out the window to make sure everyone was still outside. Sure enough, they were. I walked up to the screen and placed my order consisting of six black coffees, 2 slices of pepperoni and cheese pizza, and 5 chicken salad sandwiches. I paid and waited for my order. Luckily McGee came in as my order came up. Once he paid for some gum and other essentials, he helped me carry out all the food and drinks.

As I distributed all the food and drinks, I made sure to save Gibbs' for last. This way, I could make sure to be able to talk to him.

"Here you go Gibbs." I walked over to him with his sandwich and coffee.

"Thank you Ziver and no." He replied by taking his food. I swear! That man is a mind reader!

"Please Gibbs! You are in front and Ducky is in back." I tried to show him the logic.

"Sorry Ziver, I don't need Tony wining the whole time we are at the crime scene." I didn't want him to complain either – not only was it annoying, but I only wanted to see him happy.

"Fine. Can we at least get going?" I said aggravated that I could not drive, even though it was the truth.

"Yup, is everyone back?" Gibbs said walking around to the front of his car.

"I believe so boss." McGee replied.

"Good, let's go." And with that final word from Gibbs, we all climbed back in our respective vehicles. One by one, we left Sheetz in our convoy line headed on the last leg to the crime scene. We only have about one and a half more hours until we get there.

"Thanks for the pizza Zi!" Tony said chomping excitedly on his pizza.

"You are welcome." I told him trying not to sound aggravated all over again. I pulled my sandwich out of the bag and opened it.

We ate mostly in silence with some chit chat here and there. I was looking out the window seeing all the new scenery. It was all woods though. Once we ate the food, I gathered up the trash and placed it in the bad that the food came in. I was still upset about not getting to drive.

"I still do not see why Gibbs would not let me drive." I said staring out the window.

"Dunno. But I'm glad that I'm going to get to live another day." He said looking over at me.

"That line is from a movie, yes?" I said excitedly hopeful I finally beat him to a movie quote.

"Almost. It's actually 'live to die another day.'" I corrected her. "It's James Bond in _Die Another Day_ with Pierce Brosnan playing James Bond."

"Oh. Ok." I said turning to face him. "I wonder where we are?" I had not been paying attention to road signs. I always enjoyed my alone time with him – even though we tend to bicker a lot. That was just us.

"I'm not sure, but we have to be getting close. It's been about an hour since we left the gas station." He told me glancing out his side window. I loved looking at him. I could always tell what kind of day he was having.

And just like that, we were getting off the exit for the crime scene.

"I bet you are excited to be in a college town. All those girls." I picked on him. I always ended up jealous when he talked about dating another girl – and even those one night stands.

"Of course. I hope I can get some numbers." He said while I quickly turned away. I did not want to hear that, so I pretended like I did not hear it. Luckily we were nearing in on the scene.

Author's note: I know this chapter was kind of boring, but I feel like it had to be done to set some things in motion for later. Please read, review (or alert), and please above all else, please stick with me! Oh, if you have any suggestions, please let me know!


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Nope, still broke and I still don't own anything but all the made up characters… *Sigh* Maybe eventually.**

**Also, thank you SO much to everyone that has been reading my story! It means SO much! Now, onto the story!**

"Well, we are here!" DiNozzo exclaimed while climbing out of the van into the sunny crisp spring day.

"Well, thank you commander oblivious!" Ziva said while walking around to the back of the van to join everyone.

"It's captain obvious." McGee said right after stepping up with Gibbs right on his heels.

SMACK

"No time for an idiom lesson, McGee." Gibbs barked out while the back of his hand connected sharply with the back of McGee's head.

"Thank you Boss." McGee automatically replied as he rubbed the back of his head.

Gibbs got out his note pad that he always carried around with him. It so far, had the specifics of the crime scene. "Now that we are all here, we will start up at the crime scene. DiNozzo and David, take the elevator up to room 405. Ducky and Palmer, go with them. McGee, you are with me. We are taking the stairs."

After Gibbs had given his orders, everyone grabbed their gear with the addition of what they might need walked toward the front door of the Holiday Inn Express in Morgantown, West Virginia. Little did they know what journey lie ahead of everyone of them.

**TONY, ZIVA, PALMER, DUCKY**

Gibbs and McGee left the other four in the lobby of the hotel take the elevator. The purpose of this was to see if any clues were in the elevator.

"We have a lot of interviewing to do." Ziva commented as they waited for the elevator to come down.

"Yeah, I have a feeling people are going to be aggravated since they have been under lockdown." Tony replied to the others as the elevator drew reached the lobby floor where they were.

DING

"Let us hope you are wrong." Ziva said moving out of the way so the doors could open.

Once the elevator doors opened, Tony and Ziva quickly searched the elevator, but came up empty. All four NCIS personnel walked into the elevator. As the doors closed, everyone was thinking about what was waiting for them in that hotel room.

Ducky was the first to break the silence. "You know, Henry Waterman of New York is credited for the earliest design for the standing rope control in 1850. Little does anyone know that the first reference to an elevator was by a Roman architect by the name of Vitruvius. He reported that Archimedes actually built the first elevator around 236 BC."

"Ducky, you are so full of wisdom." Ziva said as she patted Ducky's cheek.

"Why thank you my dear." Ducky replied as they arrived at their destination of the fourth floor.

As the doors came to life and opened signaling they had arrived; one by one they stepped out into the hallway let by one Ziva David after one Tony DiNozzo said "Ladies First." When everyone stepped out of the elevator and made their way to the door of the room, Gibbs and McGee arrived shortly after.

"No evidence in the elevator boss." Tony said while donning his gloves and booties.

"None in either staircase either." McGee reported to the others.

"Can I help you?" A gruff voice that no one recognized.

"Yeah. Gibbs, NCIS." Gibbs opened his identification toward the guy.

"Ok. They told me you would be coming. I'm Trooper First Class, Jason Manning with the West Virginia State Police. Call me Jay though." Jay shook hands with Gibbs and acknowledged the rest of the group. "I've got the rest of my guys keeping the reporters and gawkers out and keeping everyone else in. I've secured the scene. The local PD is also helping my guys out."

"Thanks." Gibbs said walking under the crime tape into the grizzly scene. "DiNozzo, pictures. David, bag and tag. McGee, witnesses. All five floors."

"All five?" McGee asked while taking of his gloves and booties. "Never mind boss, not a problem." Once look at that steely blue gaze told McGee everything he needed to know.

Everyone left their gear and what they didn't need out in the hallway so it would not be in the way. Ducky and Palmer went in after Gibbs with Ziva and DiNozzo following closely behind.

"This reminds me of _Nightmare on Elm Street_, when Johnny Depp is supposed to stay awake, but Freddy gets him." To illustrate his next words, Tony made a sound like he was sucking the last of a drink through a straw. "Right through the bed…then his liquefied insides gush like a geyser all over the room." His chuckling dies as he observes his colleagues look of horror.

All around them was blood, tissue, and who knows what else.

"I have always found Johnny to be quite handsome" Ziva said loftily and continued, "Would you not agree, Tony?"

"Yea-NO! Wait…what?"

"Tell me something Tony. With all that movie knowledge in your head, how do you work? How do you function?" Ziva asked him as she followed Gibbs by hugging the wall into the small hotel bathroom to view the body.

"Funny. If you must know, I'm a man of many talents and skills." Tony said stepping up to the body.

"Rigor Mortis has set up." Ducky informed everyone while starting his initial observation. "Liver temp suggests T.O.D. around fifteen hours ago. Though there are many cuts and gashes on him – like he has been mutilated. Also, first look suggests he was mutilated before the drowning. Though I'll…"

"Know more once we get him back." Gibbs finished for him. "We will start in the bedroom while you two take care of him."

With that, the team carefully hugged the wall and left Ducky and Palmer to do their work. Everyone worked silently but diligently in the gruesome scene.

The team found a cell phone on the desk that was to the right, a cup on the TV beside the desk. On the other side of the room, the bed sheets were rumpled as if some activity took place, the clock had been knocked off the nightstand, and the closet mirror and the window were cracked. Apart from that evidence, there was mostly blood and tissue everywhere, even the ceiling.

Once Ducky had taken the body away, the team was able to process the bathroom. In the bathroom, on the right side, they found a used condom in the trash can, and beside that in the sink, they found all blood and a knife. The tub was drained, and a hair was found in the water. Besides those pieces of evidence, the only other piece was a bloody towel heaped on the floor by the door. And of course, there was blood and tissue everywhere – walls, ceiling, floors, and every surface.

A few hours later and a processed scene, Gibbs told DiNozzo and Ziva to go make sure any trash pickup for this room go to Abby. After they had finished their tasks, McGee finished his, what seemed as the millionth interview, and Gibbs had collected any additional evidence, the group met by their vehicles.

Ducky and Palmer had left earlier to get a head start on the autopsy so that they might have some answers by the time the team got back to NCIS. No one happened to see, a dark shadow in the group of gawkers in front of the hotel as they climbed back into their respected vehicles for the drive back to NCIS….

**Author's Note: Well, what do you think? Please keep hitting that review button, the alert button, and favorite button! It all means a lot to me! Stay tuned! Also, here is the link to a video that serves as further illustration as described by Tony: .com/watch?v=PGGrbOZrFqw**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: still nothing….crap**

**Also, I can't believe that the fourth chapter is here! I hope everyone is enjoying this story! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, alerted, and added me to their favorites! Also, thank you SO much to my beta reader wayamy27narf! Now, on to the chapter!**

Four hours later, and a truck full of evidence, the team returned back to NCIS Headquarters. In addition to the evidence, a new guest for Ducky, they had interviews and backgrounds on what seemed a million people to go through. The two remaining cars, since Ducky and Palmer returned at an earlier time, parked in their spots one by one. Slowly, everyone climbed out of their vehicles and headed towards the back ends to hear their next move.

"Ziva, take the evidence to Abby then help with the backgrounds. McGee, get the id of the victim confirmed from Ducky, then start running backgrounds. DiNozzo, help McGee. "While Gibbs gruffly gave his orders to the agents, they all nodded in understanding.

After everyone knew what their tasks would be, everyone cleaned up their cars from any trash during the trip and grabbed their gears. Before Ziva could protest, however, Tony grabbed her gear since she was handling the evidence. She shot him a grateful glance; even if it had I could have gotten it, in it and followed the men into the elevator.

**ZIVA POV**

DING

"Abby!" I yelled over the mind blowing blaring music of one of her favorite bands – Brain Matter. She didn't hear me. "ABBY!" I yelled out her name again setting the evidence bin down on the metal table. This time she heard me and turned the music down.

"ZIVA!" Abby yelled back in much delight. Despite her being Goth, she was the happiest person I have ever seen! Due to me being ex-Mossad, I did not trust people very easily or have close friends, but she quickly has become my best girl friend.

"Here is a gift!" I said while motioning to the bin on the metal table.

"Oooooo, what did you bring me?" She asked as she bounced over to the evidence. She was hungrily eyeing the evidence while she put on her latex gloves. She started to take the evidence out so we could have a few minutes of girl talk.

"Can you believe that I was not allowed to drive!" I remarked still irked by the order for Tony to drive. I did not want to waste any of the few minutes we had.

"I bet Tony was having fun with that." She said while logging a piece of evidence.

"You are right about that." I nodded in confirmation.

"What movie reference did he make?" She asked knowing Tony all too well with his movie knowledge.

"This one was from _Nightmare on Elm Street._ I also happened to ask him how he can properly function and work with all that movie knowledge." I said leaning down on the metal table.

Abby made a snorting sound then replied, "You know, I have often wondered that myself." At least she agreed with me. She then signed the chain of custody forms for the evidence.

"Do you know that McGee is writing another book?" I asked curiously to see if she had anything to spill.

"Good! I can't wait to see what happens to Lisa and Tommy as well as McGregor and Amy!" She said while bouncing on the balls of her feet.

DING

"Abby, I have some samples for you." Palmer said stepping off the elevator samples in hand.

"I will come and talk to you later, Abby. Bye!" I said while waving and walking to the elevator.

"Ok. Bye!" She replied, half waiving, half signing chain of custody papers, and half holding samples.

I stepped into the elevator and pushed the button that would end up being the destination, which would be the bullpen for this elevator ride. After I watched the doors close, I wondered what new obstacles we would be facing on this case.

**TONY'S POV**

Inwardly groaning all the way to the elevator, in the elevator, and up to the bullpen, I kept thinking of how tedious this task was going to be. At least I didn't have to do it alone. After McGee got off at Autopsy, we rode the elevator until it was Ziva's stop at Abby's lab. As soon as the doors opened, I could hear her famous music playing. I watched as Ziva glide off the elevator and towards the lab. _Then there were two_, I thought as Gibbs and I were left for the rest of the short elevator ride.

When we reached our floor, we stepped out of the elevator and walked over to where our desks were in the bullpen. I sat Ziva's gear by her desk and walked across to where my desk was. I signed on my computer, put my gun in the drawer, and then locked it. By that time, McGee had found his way to his desk.

"So, McGoo, how should we do this?" I asked looking over at him.

"Well, I figure we can start by splitting up the floors. I'll take the first floor, fourth floor, and the victim. You can take the second floor, fifth floor, and police. Then when Ziva gets here, she can take the third floor and the employees. McGee said after he rolled his eyes at yet another nickname.

"Sounds good." I said while walking over to McGee's desk to get a copy of the hotel's registry list. I was also trying to watch for the elevator to arrive. It never feels like a complete team when Ziva is gone, hell, I don't feel complete – but I'd never tell her that. I don't think she feels the same.

As we started our tedious and time consuming tasks of running background on what seemed everyone under the sun, a shrill sound of a cell phone going off erupted and made me jump.

"Yeah, Gibbs." Gibbs barked into his phone. "On my way." He simply replied standing up. Both McGee and I watched Gibbs walk up the stairs to the director's office.

I took one last look at the elevator trying to will it to come with Ziva. Seeing no immediate result, I looked down at my list of names to start.

DING

I looked up and saw Ziva walking my way off the elevator. I tried not to smile.

"Glad you could join us Zee-vah." I said leaning back in my chair and using one of her nicknames that I normally used.

**REGULAR POV**

Ignoring Tony, Ziva walked over to where McGee sat at his desk. "McGee, what can I do?"

"Run background on this stack." He said while holding out a stack of papers.

"Will do." She confirmed while looking over the papers and walking over to her desk.

A few hours later, everyone was finishing up background checks, when Tony was the first to speak. "If I have to do anymore backgrounds, I will kill myself." He said stretching far back in his chair.

"Stop whining." McGee simply said while not looking up from his list of people.

"I wonder where Gibbs is? Ziva, will you finish my list so I can see if he needs any help from one very special agent?" DiNozzo asked hoping to get out of anymore background searches.

"No, and if you do not sit back down and finish your backgrounds, I will kill you myself." Ziva shot back barely glancing up from her list of names.

"Fine bossy." Tony grumbled and looked back down at his list of names.

A few names later, one triumphant very special agent DiNozzo shot up out of his chair with his arms raised in triumph, exclaiming, "Finally, I'm done!"

With McGee and Ziva staring oddly at him, they shot a glance to each other, and then McGee was the first to speak. "Tony, hate to break it to you, but Ziva and I have been done."

DiNozzo opened his mouth to give a retort, but before he could even speak, a grizzly voice boomed, "Whaddya got?" Gibbs walked in the bullpen to his team.

"Amber Marie Stacy, age 29, saw a guy in a hood with his face covered walk quickly in the hotel. He then proceeded to the elevator. Later one that night, around 10 PM, she saw the same guy walking almost sprinting out of the hotel with two other guys on his heels. She and her new husband were staying in room 104."

McGee still had the floor and clicked up four new pictures. He magnified each one as he spoke about them. "First off, we have the victim. Command Sergeant Major Roger Steve Snead. He has a record that consists of drunken bar fights, speeding tickets, and a domestic disturbance all of which occurred ten or more years ago. He is 45 and divorced. He lives in Rockville, MA and was in Morgantown to give a lecture at WVU."

"This is Ellie Laura Smith," McGee clicked the next picture, "the victim's ex-wife. She is 50, and lives in Princeton, West Virginia. She is employed by First Community Bank as a loan officer. She also has a record which consists of one single incident that is vehicular damage. According to her statement, she caused major damage to the victim's vehicle when she caught him cheating on her."

"Next, we have Presley Michael Smith," McGee brought up the next picture, "the ex-wife's new husband. He is 52. He used to be best friends with the victim. He also has a slight record of drunken bar fights, and disturbing the peace. He works as the manager of Ramey Automotive in Princeton, West Virginia."

"Last but not least," McGee brought up the remaining picture, "we have Roxanne Lilly Evans. Age 32 and a well known gold digger and prostitute. She was apparently the victim's mistress, but dumped right after the divorce. She works at a doctor's office as a secretary which is where they met."

"Good McGee." Gibbs gave him praise after his report. "Anything else?"

"Boss, Abigail Judith Murry, age 32. She reported she heard several muffled sounds from the room above her, which was the victim's room. She also said that she heard voices from four different men." McGee reported while reading his notes.

"Good. Ok, here is the deal. Because of who the victim was, SecNav wants this closed asap." Gibbs reported. Everyone nodded in understanding. Gibbs continued, "I went and spoke to Abby and Ducky. Abby said that while she is still processing the evidence, what she could tell me is that the cell phone belonged to Roxanne with several calls being made to the victim. Also, there was a used condom with DNA that matched Presley and Ellie. Ducky reported that all the carvings and slashes were made before he died as a result from drowning."

"Ziva, DiNozzo. I want you to go home and pack. You guys are going back to West Virginia. I need you to interview Presley, Ellie, and Roxanne. I also need you to take a look around where the victim was going to interview. McGee, help Abby with the cell phone traces and the knife trace." Gibbs said while tossing the car keys to DiNozzo.

**MEANWHILE SOMEWHERE IN D.C…**

"Keep an eye on the investigators. I don't want them getting too close." A nervous man spoke through his phone.

"We will do that. What do we do if they start getting too close?" One of the men asked.

"You know what to do, but make it look accidental. Also, be sure to keep me updated. Do I make myself clear?" The first man tried to make himself forceful.

"We know how to do our jobs." The second guy said looking out the front windshield starting at NCIS.

"Good. I will be in touch and awaiting your call." The first man said as he hung up.

**AN: DUH DUH DUH! I hope that you like the story! Now, it's your turn! You know what to do! :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Authors Note: let me see, crap, nope…still own nadda. sigh**

**Also, sorry for the delay in the update….I had writer's block.**

**Thank you to everyone once again who has reviewed, alerted, and favorite my story! It means a lot! Also, once again, I want to thank my beta WAYAMY27NARF – you are SO awesome! **

At 0800, Tony pulled up in front of Ziva's apartment building. Before he left his own apartment, he made sure he had his gear, an overnight bag, and some additional things that they might need. He parked the car as close as he could, turned the ignition off, and climbed out to go see if Ziva was ready. As soon as he made it to the door to enter the building, his tan exotic beauty stepped out with her gear and overnight bag.

"Ready to hit the road Zee-vah?" DiNozzo asked while grabbing one of her bags.

"Yes, but I'm driving." Ziva replied while walking over to the car with DiNozzo.

"Fine, I'll try to take a nap." DiNozzo replied yawning as he was stowing Ziva's things along with his in the back of the car.

As soon as the bags were stored and the two agents climbed in the car and headed out to the wild and wonderful mountain state of West Virginia. The normal four hour drive took only two hours due to Ziva's 'pedal to the floor' driving, despite many complaints from Tony.

"Tony, if you did not act like such a little toddler, you might find you enjoy my driving." Ziva huffed as she parked the car in the parking lot of West Virginia University.

"It's baby, Ziva." Realizing what DiNozzo said, he quickly added, "The saying is acting like a baby. As for your driving, I don't think I, or anyone else, will ever call that driving, much less, enjoy it."

The shrill sound of a cell phone interrupted their moment of bickering.

"DiNozzo. Oh hey boss. Hold on and I'll put you on speaker phone." Both agents got back into the car so that way they could hear Gibbs on the other end.

"Tony and Ziva! Tony and Ziva! Tony and Ziva!" The agents looked at each other with the same vision in their head – a hyperactive goth all caffeinated up by Caf-Pow bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

"Hi Abby!" The pair replied into the phone.

"Say hi, McGee." Abby said in the background.

"Hi." McGee's voice came over the phone.

"Well, hello McTalkative." Tony replied.

"Whaddya got?" Gibbs guffly barked into the phone.

"Nothing yet, Gibbs. We have just arrived." Ziva spoke before Tony could say anything. "We would have been here sooner if someone had not complained and whined so much." She stared holes into Tony as she spoke.

"McGee and Abby, tell them what we have. After that, call me when you get done at WVU." Gibbs ordered into the phone.

"First of all, did you know that in September of 2011, it became a felony to burn couches in Morgantown?" McGee rattled off the little known fact.

"Good thing we don't have a couch loaded into the car, McBurn." DiNozzo said with his signature grin.

"Wait, why would they feel the need to make that law?" Ziva asked slightly curious to the odd law.

"Apparently, burning couches is a University tradition that has gotten way out of hand, so it was banned." McGee replied.

"Moving on," Abby said after the momentary lapse of silence. "We are still running evidence, but we have found some things out. First of all, McGee ran the cell phone. "

"It belongs to the victim's mistress Roxie. However, there were many calls made to and from the victim. Not only that, but calls were made to and from the victim's ex-wife and her new husband." McGee took over.

"Here is where it gets a little hinky." Abby cut back in. "The hair that was found in the towel, does not match any of our people. This is just first glance. The tests are still running, but soon, I will have something for you."

"Thanks Abbs." Tony replied through the phone.

"No problem. And Ziva, we are still on for Friday, right?" Abby asked hopeful that their plans were still a go.

"Yes, we are. I am looking forward to it!" Ziva exclaimed watching the curious face of one Anthony DiNozzo.

"Good! See you both tomorrow." Abby said wrapping up the conversation.

"Well, shall we go talk to the professor then head down to Princeton?" Tony asked shutting his phone closed.

"Let us go." Ziva replied getting out of the car for the second time that day.

They walked up the stairs side by side into Woodburn Hall. Since it was Thursday, they knew from the online site that Professor Nicholas Richard Hammond would have a class here from 1130 to 1220. Once they found the room, they were in luck because there were no students and only the professor.

"Professor Nicholas Hammond?" DiNozzo asked while he, and Ziva, both pulled out their ids.

"Yes, but please call me Nick. What can I do for you?" He asked looking up from his papers.

"Special Agents Anthony DiNozzo and Ziva David, NCIS." DiNozzo replied while the agents held out their ids for Nick to view.

While motioning for the agents to sit down, Nick asked, "What can I do for NCIS?"

"We understand that Command Sergeant Major Roger Snead was supposed to present a lecture to one of your classes, yes?" Ziva asked while they took seats.

"Yes, and I was very disappointed that he blew us off," Nick stood up and walked over to the open door to shut it for privacy, "I never thought in a million years that he could do this to me. Why are you asking about him?"

"Sorry to say, Nick, that he didn't blow you off." DiNozzo waiting until Nick sat back down before he delivered the news. "He was murdered in his hotel room."

"Wh-What happened?" Nick started reaching for a tissue, "We have been best friends since we were little."

"Sorry, but since this is an active investigation, we can't go into details." DiNozzo replied feeling sorry for Nick.

Ziva interrupted the brief silence as if they paused to give respect to the victim, "But please, tell us all you can about him."

Nick leaned back in his chair, "There are so many things that I could tell you. Like I said before, we grew up together, and were, and still, best friends. We are both originally from Princeton, West Virginia. We both had done some stupid things, I was fortunate and didn't get arrested. Unfortunately, he did. When he met Ellie, he completely changed. They married young and he joined the military. We always kept in touch. About 20 years ago, they started having problems, and he started cheating on her. His mistress, Roxie, is a known prostitute and now, a stalker. She split Ellie and Rog up, but Rog dumped Roxie right after the divorce, but apparently Roxie didn't take that very well. According to Rog, she was calling and harassing him as well as his ex-wife."

"Do you know if he was working on anything special or what some of his duties included?" DiNozzo asked to keep the interview on track.

"I don't know a whole lot, but the one thing that I do know, is that he was in charge of making sure everyone retired when they reached the mandatory age. I know this because he once told me that he hated thinking about leaving the military when it was his life. He also liked to come once a year and do a presentation for me to my students."

"Was there anyone who was disgruntled with him that you know of?" Ziva asked the next question.

"When we talked last, there was." He took off his glasses to clean them, "I was never told his names. All I know, is that he accused Rog of being unfair. He also thought that Rob was out to get him just because he is 3 years over the mandatory retirement age."

"Can you think of anything else that might help us?" Tony asked.

"No, sorry. But if I do, I will be more than happy to let you know. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at any of these numbers." Nick wrote down several numbers and handed the paper to DiNozzo.

"One more thing. We have to ask…" Ziva started to ask the question everyone hated answering.

"My alibi." Nick said interrupting Ziva. "Of course, anything to help find the killer of my dearest friend. I was out shopping with my wife. We were at Morgantown Mall from 5 to 8. We are having an anniversary party, and we were getting things for the party. From there, we went to eat at Applebees, which the time was about 8:30 to 10 PM because it was crowded still at that time. After that, we went to Walmart to pick up some groceries, and didn't get out of there until about 11 or 11:30. From there, we went straight home, unpacked groceries, and went to bed." He took out receipts from the mall, restaurant, and store and gave them to Ziva.

Ziva replied by saying, "Thank you. Of course, we do have to verify your whereabouts, but we do appreciate the cooperation. We will be in touch if we need anything else."

"Thank you," Nick said standing up. "Please, if you can. Let me know what you find out at the end of your investigation."

"We will do what we can." DiNozzo said as they were all walking to the door.

One final handshake, DiNozzo and Ziva were headed back out into the sunshine and back to the car.

"I'm driving this time." DiNozzo said holding out his hand for the keys.

"If I let you drive, will you quit whining?" Ziva asked dangling the keys over Tony's outstretched hand.

"Yes." DiNozzo replied while grabbing them.

"We should probably call Gibbs before we go." Ziva said while dialing her cell phone.

After a few short rings, DiNozzo and Ziva hear the famous "Gibbs" barked over the phone.

"We just got finished interviewing Professor Nicholas Hammond. He told us that they had gotten in mischief when they were younger which resulted in our victim getting a record. Also, he told us about the victim and his ex-wife split was caused by the victim and his mistress. The victim dumped the mistress right after the divorce." Ziva gave the report over the phone.

"Good job Ziver, did he give anything else up when you talked to him?" Gibbs replied

"He gave us his alibi and receipts for everything which is time stamped. I do believe him. But he did tell us about the only thing that he knew about our victim's job. He said the victim was in charge of making sure people retired when they reached that mandatory age." Ziva summed up.

"But there was one guy who the victim had issues with. The guy said that he believed the victim was out to get him. He also said that the victim felt sorry even though the guy was older than the mandatory age. He knew what it was like to have the military being everything to him." DiNozzo cut Ziva's report off to get his words in.

"Good job guys. Send McGee a copy of the receipts so he can verify, and head towards…" Gibbs was giving his orders.

"Princeton?" DiNozzo jumped in and asked.

"Gee, ya think DiNozzo?" Gibbs replied annoyed. "Ziva, do the honors."

SMACK

"Yes boss. Thank you boss." Tony said glaring at a smiling Ziva who pretended to blow smoke off her hand.

"Don't interrupt me." Gibbs said. "Stay on top of it." With that, the phone conversation ended.

"Teacher's pet." DiNozzo mumbled under his breath while climbing into the car for the next four hour trip.

"I am not a teacher's pet, Tony. How can I be when I am not a dog, cat, or any other type of animal?" Ziva asked confused.

"It's just a saying that means the teacher likes you better than me, Zee-vah." Tony said while getting back on the road.

"That is not the case Tony." Ziva said rolling her eyes and taking pictures of all the receipts with her phone to send to McGee.

About an hour into the drive to Princeton, the two agents found themselves playing the license plate game. After Ziva understood the rules, she was kicking Tony's butt much to Tony's surprise. "You know, I'm letting you win. I'm just that type of guy." Tony said.

"Sure you are." Ziva said rolling her eyes. "You enjoy having your pants handed to you by women, yes?" Ziva asked enjoying this.

"Its butt not pants. And, uh, I mean…" Tony stammered looking for a good response that would make him sound manly. Tony was saved from the shrill of Ziva's cell phone.

"It's McGee." Ziva said looking at the caller id. She opened her phone and put it on speaker.

"Ziva David…" Ziva said

"And very special agent Anthony DiNozzo." Tony interrupted and put in himself into the call.

"Hey guys." McGee said of the phone. "The professor and his wife's alibi check out. I've also been seeing where our remaining suspects are. Ellie and her new husband are actually out of town. They are in Virginia near Fort Myer. Gibbs wants you to talk to them on your way back."

"Gee, McBossy. We haven't even made it to Princeton yet." Tony said teasing McGee – he thought, _Well, hey, if I'm not there to pick on him, I can at least find ways to do so from the car._

"Thank you McGee." Ziva said interrupting Tony's banter. "Have you figured out who was giving the victim a rough time?" She asked curious.

"I am still working on that. That list is a lot bigger than you realize." McGee said.

"Keep us posted." Ziva said.

"Will do. Good luck Ziva." McGee said clicking off the phone before Tony had a chance to add anything.

"He must have been in a hurry." Tony said while concentrating on picking a toll booth to go through.

"Sure, that is it." Ziva said sarcastically.

Apparently Tony missed that because he thought of another game. The dynamic duo played a few more car games that passed the last two hours rather quickly. Shortly, they pulled up to a small apartment that sat behind a house. The two agents climbed out and stretched their tired legs quickly before walking over to the door.

"Can I help you?" A woman opened the door in a sports bra and booty shorts.

"Why yes you can…..." Tony said while moving closer.

"Roxie." She replied.

"I'm Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, and this is my partner Special Agent Ziva David. Can we come in?" They held their id's out for inspection while Ziva was boring a glare into the back of Tony's head.

"Please, come in. I was just about to go for a run." She seductively turned around and walked in leaving the agents following her. "Please sit down."

Once everyone was seated, she picked a seat near DiNozzo, and this left Ziva fuming.

"Do you know a Command Sergeant Major Roger Snead?" Ziva asked with a voice that was forced to be somewhat friendly.

"No, sorry to say I don't." Roxie replied never even acknowledging Ziva. This made her fume even more.

"How come your cell phone was in the crime scene?" Ziva asked again, enjoying the look of panic that came over her face. Ziva asked again, enjoying the look of panic that came over her face.

"What do you mean crime scene?" Roxie asked still not acknowledging Ziva.

"What I mean, is that we have reports of you stalking the victim, harassing his ex-wife, being a part time prostitute, and being at the scene of a crime." Ziva snapped, but enjoyed the outcome of seeing Roxie finally looking at her while the color was going out of her face.

"Fine. I do know the victim. He and I were intimate – used to be." She made a point to look at DiNozzo which bothered Ziva again. "But we hadn't seen or talked to each other for a few years. I don't know who told you that I was a prostitute, but that is crazy. Also, being at a crime scene is crazy. I haven't left my house for a few days – I've been so sick." She replied color coming back into her face.

"Ok. Well, we have your cell phone, which has you calling the victim everyday up until the day he was killed. So, why don't we try this again." Ziva said starting to enjoy herself.

"Fine. I was wanting to try and get back together with Rog, because I still had feeling for him. He never answered, so I just tried every day at different times so I could talk to him.

"How do you explain the phone being at our crime scene?" Ziva asked.

"Ok, I had a business meeting with a client, and after my meeting, I couldn't find it. I figured I lost it sometime during the day." Roxie said starting to fidget.

"Who was your client? What was your meeting about?" Ziva asked again.

"He was someone in the military. Let me see, a guy by the name of Duane Roger. And it's none of your business." Roxie replied.

"Fine. If you don't tell me, I am going to arrest you for obstructing an investigation. Stand up." Ziva had had enough and stood up taking her handcuffs out of her belt.

"You bitch. You can't arrest me." Roxie replied standing up as well.

"Try me." Was all Ziva said before a forgotten Tony stood up and broke them apart.

"Ladies. Look Roxie, just tell us what we need to know, and we will leave." DiNozzo said trying to calm down an ex-Mossad assassin, which always proved to be a challenge.

"Fine, for you I will." Roxie turned back her sickenly sweet attitude for DiNozzo. "I needed some money since I've been off work sick. I took a date last weekend with this guy, and one thing led to the other. He paid me triple what I make in a day at my job as a receptionist. Now if that is all, I really need to get my run in before it gets dark." Roxie replied starting to get up. "If you have any questions, please feel free to stop back by," Roxie look at DiNozzo the told Ziva, "You, can stay away."

"One more thing. What were you doing Monday between the hours of 4 PM and Tuesday 4 AM?" Ziva asked not yet moved from her seat.

"I was here, sick. And before you ask, no one was here, no one came over, and of course no one called since I couldn't find my phone. I didn't get a new phone until yesterday. Anything else?" Roxie asked ready to be released from this.

"Not at this time." Ziva said firmly and walked out the door.

"We will be in touch." DiNozzo said while briskly walking after her.

By the time, Tony caught up with Ziva, she had calmed down. "What was that about?" DiNozzo asked.

"She just rubbed me the wrong way. She would screw anything she could if she got paid enough." Ziva said standing by the car.

"Ziva David, you got jealous." DiNozzo said when it clicked.

"No I am not. I just do not see why she would not answer the questions or even acknowledge me." Ziva said leaning against the car.

"Moving on. On our way out of town, let's stop at the police station and see if they have anything on her, Ellie, and Presley." DiNozzo said dropping the subject. "But just so you know, she isn't my type."

Before Ziva could answer, DiNozzo was on the phone giving the report to Gibbs.

**MEANWHILE**

"Yeah, we see them." A man hunkered down in a car staring at the two agents said through the phone.

"Good. Make sure they don't get close to me. Do whatever you have to do." A man said on the other end.

"If we kill them, it will be extra." Another hunkered down man in the car said.

"Fine. Whatever. Call me when you have something." The man said then clicked off.

"What are we going to do?" The one hunkered down guy asked.

"They have to stop sometime to sleep. We will keep following them, and then kill them." The first hunkered down man said watching the movement of the two agents. "The woman we keep alive for our pleasure first."

**BACK TO OUR AGENTS**

DiNozzo got back behind the wheel and started the car while Ziva climbed into the passenger side. They started to drive away, neither one noticing the ratty car that pulled out a few car lengths behind them.

"Let's stop here for the night." DiNozzo said pulling into the Super 8 motel. "We can hit the police station early and head towards Virginia tomorrow."

"Sounds good." Ziva agreed. Both agents climbed out of the car into the evening air.

They snagged the two last remaining rooms, which luck would have it, were right across the hall from each other. Once situated the agents walked over to Texas Steakhouse for a meal.

"What are you getting Zee-vah?" Tony asked engrossed in the menu.

"I think I might get grilled tilapia with rice, corn, and a side salad. How about you?" Ziva asked listening to her stomach growl.

"The porterhouse steak with baked potato, corn, and a salad. I think I might get a beer too." Tony said leaning back in the booth.

"I think I will join you on that." Ziva said seductively.

Their waiter Sam, interrupted, "can I take your order?"

"I will have the grilled tilapia with rice and corn." Ziva said eyeing the rolls that were set in between of her and Tony.

"What kind of dressing and what to drink?" Sam asked ready to jot it down.

"Italian dressing, and a Budweiser beer. Can I also have a glass of water?"

"Sure thing. For you sir?" Sam looked at Tony.

"I'll have the Porterhouse steak, medium, with a baked potato (butter and sour cream), corn, and a salad." Tony said grabbing a roll.

"What kind of dressing and what to drink?" Same asked.

"Same thing as she has." Tony said.

"Will do. I will get your order right up, bring your drinks, and your salads to you." Sam said collecting the menus.

Two hours later, Tony and Ziva walked back to their hotel with bellies full. It was going on 2200 hours, and the morning would come quickly. Once they were at their respected doors, Tony was the first to break the short silence.

"Well, goodnight Ziva. Sweet dreams." He said putting his key card in the slot.

"Thank you Tony. Goodnight and sweet dreams. See you in the morning." Ziva said following suit with her key card.

**Authors notes: Yes, that law in Morgantown is real, and you can read more about it at .**

**Also, thank you SO much for hanging in there with me! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Now, please review, alert, favorite, and repeat…or tell you friends.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: sorry for any delays in getting new chapters up – good weather = playing outdoors.**

**Sadly, still broke so I don't own squat….well, except for the made up characters**

**ZIVA'S POV**

After going into my room from saying good night to Tony, I leaned on the door just wishing I could confess my feelings. _Damn it, Ziva. Get it together, _I thought. Being an American citizen now, has made me a different person – it has opened up my eyes to a new, stronger person. Especially since what happened in Somalia. I shivered in fear whenever I thought about that evil place.

Sighing, I walked over to my bed, and started taking my shirt and shorts out of my bag to change for bed. I apparently forgot to turn my TV off before we went to eat. The video for a song we heard on the drive down to Princeton. I couldn't help myself, so I set down on the bed and watched the video.

_I dropped you off  
>Just a little after midnight<br>Sat in my car  
>Till you turned off your porch light<br>I should have kissed you  
>I should have pushed you up against the wall<br>I should have kissed you  
>Just like I wasn't scared at <em>

I thought back to standing out in the hall before going into our separate rooms. I could only imagine what it would be like to have him feel what I feel for me. I wish he would have pushed me up against the wall. I have been so afraid since being in the dark place again. I was afraid I would be rejected because of my scars, both mentally and physically, as well as emotionally.

_I turned off the car  
>Ran through the yard<br>Back to your front door  
>Before I could knock<br>You turned the lock  
>And met me on the front porch<em>

My heart started racing when I heard a door across the hall open. I jumped up and ran to my door. I threw it open, to only find a closed door across the hall. I was angry with myself. I should know better.

_And I kissed you  
>Goodnight<br>And now that I've kissed you  
>It's a good night, good night, baby goodnight<em>

Still standing there like an idiot in my doorway with the door wide open. Taking in another second of feeling like an idiot, I slowly shut the door trying to listen for any movement across the hall.

_You couldn't see me  
>Watching through the window<br>Wondering what went wrong  
>Praying that you wouldn't go<br>You should have kissed me  
>You should have pushed me up against the wall<br>You should have kissed me  
>I was right on the edge and ready to fall<br>_

After the door had shut, I stood once again against the door upset with myself. I looked out of the peephole hoping to catch him. I stood there wondering whether he would ever be able to look at me as more than a partner. Thinking back over all our years together, I saw all of my mistakes in trying to push him away. Then, this last time before I was sent on the suicide mission, I thought about how confusing all these feeling were. On top of that, I had come to realize how my father really thought and felt about me.

_So I turned off the car  
>Ran through the yard<br>Back to your front door  
>Before I could knock<br>You turned the lock  
>And met me on the front porch<em>

I walked back over to my bed with tears what fought angrily to fall making me all the more frustrated and upset. I started to change. After I put on my t-shirt, I looked down and realized it was one of Tony's shirts.

_And I kissed you  
>Goodnight<br>And now that I've kissed you  
>It's a good night, good night, baby goodnight<em>

Realizing this on my shirt made some tears escape. I swiped them away angrily and ashamed that I have let my feelings for him go this far. We are partners; anything more would just make everything that much harder, yes? I needed to call Abby to hash this entire thing out with her.

_I turned off the car  
>Ran through the yard<br>Back to your front door  
>Half scared to death can't catch my breath<br>Aren't these the moments we live for_

I grabbed my phone, and started to dial, when I realized the time. It was 0130 in the morning. I was worried about waking her up, so I decided I would try and sneak away and call her later on in the day.

_And I kissed you  
>Goodnight<br>And now that I've kissed you  
>It's a good night, good night baby goodnight<br>It's a good night, good night baby goodnight  
>It's a good night, good night baby goodnight<br>It's a good night, good night baby goodnight_

I really liked that song, I determined. I also figured that I might want to check out more country music just to see if all the songs fit life like this one.

Laying down, I realized sleep was not going to come easily. Besides this lonely despair of a love with Tony, I also had a nagging feeling of dread. I felt that something was going to happen, and it would not be good. As much as I tried to shake it off, I just couldn't.

Finally, about 0330, sweet sleep finally took me over…..

**MEANWHILE**

A black hooded figure stood outside of Ziva's room. Glancing around, he looked around. Even this early in the morning, gaining access to their rooms to complete their assassin jobs was not going to be possible. There were people still checking in and even checking out. _Do these people never sleep?_ He though. They were going to have to come up with a new plan.

He decided to have a little fun with the agents though in the meantime, and took out a typed folded card. Laying it down on the floor, he added a crushed rose, and a bloodied glove.

**DUH DUH DUH!**

**Thought I would add a couple of chapters for some Tiva love. Up next, Tony's night! **

**I hope everyone is enjoying this story! Please review, alert, favorite, and repeat. Reviews especially are like chocolate. Alerts and favorites are like the milk that go with chocolate….now I want chocolate. LOL. See everyone next chapter! **

**Also, this song is "Kissed You Good Night" by Gloriana. Here is the link, hope you like it! I LOVE this song! .**


	7. Chapter 7

**Authors note: Thank you for everyone who has taken the time to review, alert, or favorite my story! It feels like Christmas! **  
><strong>I hope everyone is enjoying the story, cause I don't own crap…lol.<strong>

**TONY'S POV**  
>After our goodnights in front of our rooms, a short silence, we separately entered into our rooms.<p>

_Oh, why you look so sad?  
>The tears are in your eyes<br>Come on and come to me now  
>Don't, be ashamed to cry<br>Let me see you through  
>'Cause I've seen a dark side too<em>

I never have really paid attention until the trip down to Princeton. This song just fit us perfect, it seemed. Still leaning on the inside of my door, I allowed myself to think of Somalia and events directly following. I saw her then as I see her sometimes now, when she slips and thinks about that dark time, I see the tears that she doesn't want to show the world. I try to get her to talk and share, but she just holds it inside. I just want to help her, just as she always has helped me. I saw just a glimpse of that darkness while being held captive in that room. I just couldn't imagine what all she had to endure. I just wish she knew she didn't have to carry the burden alone...I was here, and never going to leave.

_When the night falls on you  
>You don't know what to do<br>Nothing you confess  
>Could make me love you less<em>

Walking over to my bed, I kept thinking back to that dark time. I knew she had nightmares, and I knew when she had them. I could always tell. I just wish she would let me in. She would sometimes slip up and slip something, but then brush it off. Gibbs just told me to keep trying, and it would happen…eventually. Whatever she had been though, would not make me run away with my tail between my legs, I would still love her.

_I'll stand by you  
>I'll stand by you<br>I won't let nobody hurt you  
>I'll stand by you<em>

I knew I had failed her when I let my jealousy rule me that night I killed her boyfriend. As good as my intentions were, I actually blamed myself for everything she endured. After we had found her, brought her home, and I knew she was safe, I made a vow, right then and there that I would let nobody hurt her like that again.

_So, if you're mad get mad  
>So Don't hold it all inside<br>Come on and talk to me now  
>Hey, what you got to hide?<br>I get angry too  
>Well, I'm a lot like you<em>

When Gibbs and I had that heart to heart a couple nights after we brought her home, I tried to get his advice to get her to talk to me or someone. He told me that she would talk when she was ready, but according to Vance, she had to talk to the NCIS psychologist. I figured that was better than nothing. We had to work to rebuild what we once had. I always hoped that we could do that and more. Thinking back even more, when I broke up with Jeanne, I was so angry and lost. I could see some of that and obviously more. She made me talk to her about it. I just wish this was something I could make her talk to me about. I doubt she knew I was still hurting from it as well. Gibbs was actually becoming a psychologist without even know it – man, I bet he would not like to hear that. I chuckled.

_When you're standin' at the crossroads  
>And don't know which patch to choose<br>Let me come along  
>'Cause even if you're wrong<em>

Still thinking of the past, we were often at the same crossroads, yet we so far away from each other. Maybe if I had confessed my feeling at an earlier time, we would not be here and she would be dead. Maybe time had led us to watching each other in different relationships until we are able to handle everything that life has dealt us both. Whatever the case may be, I would still I could just lay my feeling out there so I could be there with her every step of the way along life's journey.

_I'll stand by you  
>I'll stand by you<br>I won't let nobody hurt you  
>I'll stand by you<br>Take me in into your darkest hour  
>And I'll never desert you<br>I'll stand by you  
><em>  
>Thinking through the time between Somalia and today, I realized that she had slowly broken down some walls that she build since that terrible time. She had willingly showed me some scars when we talked one day, and broke down into tears in front of me when I asked her a question about that time. That broke my heart alone and made me want to kill that man all over again. Gibbs was right, she would talk when she was ready – I just had to be here to support her when she did.<p>

_And when, when the night falls on you, baby  
>You're feelin' all alone<br>You won't be on your own_

I didn't realize until this moment that I was standing out in the hallway, right in front of her door in nothing but my boxers. I had been in deep thought, which I'm sure would get a smirk out of some people, that I had been in a trance basically. I was tempted to knock on her door, but I chickened out at the last minute and quickly entered my room ashamed. I wanted her to feel safe and never have those nightmares. I always wished we could lie together and keep away each other's nightmares and feel complete. I had nightmares that she was truly gone….I never wanted that to happen.

_I'll stand by you  
>I'll stand by you<br>I won't let nobody hurt you  
>I'll stand by you<br>Take me in into your darkest hour  
>And I'll never desert you<br>I'll stand by you_

_Oh, I'll stand by you  
>I'll stand by you<em>

Laying down, I felt sadness overtake me. I wanted to talk to someone, and that someone was Abby. In her own way, it was therapeutic. Same with Gibbs, but I knew he would be working very late tonight. Looking at my phone, it was too late to call anyone. I just hoped that sleep would take me over before the sadness consumed me tonight….

**MEANWHILE**

A hooded man out in the parking lot, was standing at their car. Looking around, he slid under the car. A few minutes later, he crawled out from under the car. Grabbing his cell phone, he dialed a familiar number and said, "They won't make it very far now." And with that, he closed the phone and walked away.

**Well, whatcha think? I LOVE this song too! I think it fits Tiva VERY well? Here is a link to it!**  
><span><strong>.<strong>  
><strong>Now, you all know what to do….review, alert, and favorite and repeat as many times as you want! Also, be sure and tell your friends. <strong>** Stay tuned for more TIVA fun!**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Thank you SO much for all your reviews, favorites, and alerts! And once again, thank you to my beta WAYAMY27NARF! You rock chica! **

**ZIVA POV**

I woke up at her usual 5 AM to go for a run. Instead, I decided to go take a bubble bath to relieve the tension that she built up last night from the nightmares and the desires. Before I sank into the tub, I turned on the TV in the room and put it on the country music television channel for some background noise. I gathered up my bubble bath and other toiletries out of my overnight bag and walked to the bathroom.

I opened up my coconut bubble bath and took a generous sniff of the tropical smell. I could feel some of that tension ease away. I poured the bubble bath into the tub after I had plugged it, and now all I had to do was wait for it to fill. I pinned up my hair and laid my towels down for easy reach. I made sure that my shampoo, conditioner, and body wash were all close at hand for when I was ready to end the bath with a quick shower.

I turned off the water to the tub, and slowly sank in to the hot calming water with a deep sigh. I could feel the tension and the stress of last night melting away, layer by layer. I knew that Tony would not be up before 8. I would send him a text message after my bath and shower to let me know when he was ready.

Closing my eyes, I let the warm water sooth me to the bone. I could feel my thoughts drifting off to those desires and wants that remained from last night. I started staying into the gray area of Tony and I as an actual couple. We had played that part many times over the years undercover. I wonder what it would be like. Abby accused us of acting like an old married couple several times.

Sighing again, I opened my eyes and sat up. The water was getting cool now, so I unplugged the tub and stood up. I started the shower and finished trying to relax by washing my hair. After my shower, I got out, wrapped a towel around my damp hair, and dried off. I stood naked in front of the mirror just as I had so many times in the past since Somalia. I looked at the scars and even though they had begun to fade, I still felt ashamed.

I quickly dismissed any feelings of pity for myself, and began getting ready for the day. I turned down the TV after looking at the time, which read 0630. Yup, a good time to call Abby….

**TONY POV**

BUZZZZZZZZZ

Groaning, I reached over and hit the alarm with my eyes still closed. I hated mornings. Actually, I DESPISED mornings. That normally explained why I was always running into the office late. I opened my eyes and slowly sat up. I paused listening for any signs of Ziva. I knew she usually ran early in the mornings. I looked at my phone, and saw that she sent me a text message, "I'm ready to go, let me know when you are ready."

I got up, looked at the time which read 0730, and shuffled towards the bathroom. I slowly started the shower and cursing when I realized that my toiletries were in my bag. After I shuffled back to my room and grabbed my things, I started making my way back to the shower. On my way, however, I stubbed my toe, which hurt like hell. I limped back, cussing along the way.

Stripping down, I stepped into the hot spray of the shower. It woke me up to where I was able to function pretty good – even without coffee. I shampooed and washed quickly, and turned off the water. Now standing bare-assed in the cold weather, I grabbed a towel and dried off. I stepped out of the tub and stood in front of the mirror to get ready for the day.

I made sure to shave and put on the cologne that Ziva has always liked so much. I quickly got dressed since we were supposed to leave at 0800. I text Ziva telling her I was ready, and resumed to putting everything into my bag. A few minutes later, I heard a frantic pounding at my door…..

**ZIVA POV**

I was luckily able to talk to Abby for about an hour before Tony text me. I told her about last night, and she helped me to try and decipher the meaning behind everything. She still swore up and down that Tony and I were meant to be together and it would happen. I tried to remind her about everything that had happened to make me believe otherwise in addition to Gibbs's famous rule #12 – "never date a co-worker."

She still would not believe any of that. I just turned the table and started in on her and Tim. They were such a cute couple, and the old saying, "opposites attract," I believe I hope I got that one right, was never truer.

BEEP

I told Abby to hold on because I got a message. After reading the reply Tony sent me, I told Abby that I needed to go because Tony was ready.

After getting off the phone, I made sure my sidearm was securely hooked on the top of my pants. I picked up my bags, and opened up the door. Looking down, I saw what was sitting outside of my door. The rose and card didn't bother me so much as the bloodied glove. With the shock of seeing it, I panicked and had a quick relapse back to Somalia. Some of the men who tortured me, used gloves like this.

Feeling panic quickly rise in my throat, I tried to shake it off. When I couldn't, I dropped my bags, hopped across it, and quickly pounded on Tony's door.

**REGULAR POV**

After seeing Ziva's pale and panic stricken face, Tony asked, "Ziva, what happened?" He stood there in one of his designer suits with one hand on the door, and the other on the butt of his gun.

Ziva composed herself quickly after the images of Somalia left her head. "Sorry, to rush you, but someone left me a present last night." She stepped to the side of the door so Tony could view what was laying down on the carpet.

Walking over, he took out his phone, and called Gibbs. Before he could talk to Ziva, she got Tony's camera out so she would not have to step over that again. He dialed Gibbs's number and waited for him to answer. While he was waiting, he was wondering what happened to make Ziva act like that.

A rough voice broke his thoughts, "Gibbs."

"Boss, Ziva was left with a present last night." Tony said while glancing up at Ziva. She seemed to be better now because she was focused on working.

"Whaddya mean DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked. He motioned to Ziva that he would be right back, and stepped back into his room where Ziva could not hear. "DiNozzo." Gibbs repeated getting aggravated at getting annoyed.

"There is a crushed rose, a folded up card, and a bloodied glove." DiNozzo relayed to Gibbs.

"What is it DiNozzo." Gibbs asked, he knew something happened.

"It's Ziva. Something spooked her this morning. She's OK now though." DiNozzo said that last part quickly so Gibbs wouldn't worry too much.

"Stay with her, and make sure she is OK. Remember what I told you, everything is going to take time. Just be sure and be there if she wants to talk about what happened." Gibbs continued on, "Now, as for the evidence, run to the local LEO's office and overnight that all to Abby. Send the pictures to McGee as well as the security videos. Then continue on to talk with the victim's ex-wife and new husband."

"Yes Boss." DiNozzo said to no one in particular after the phone clicked.

Putting on gloves and gathering a black marker, pen, evidence bags, swab, and a notebook out of his bag, he walked back into the hallway. He saw a few curious onlookers trying to figure out what they were doing.

Answering Ziva's questioned look, he handed her the paper and a pen to sketch while he collected the evidence. Methodically, he picked up the first piece of evidence, after a nod from Ziva showing that she had finished the sketch, he placed the crushed rose in an evidence bag.

"Excuse me! What are you doing?" A man said impatiently and angrily.

The agents looked at each other, and Ziva set the notebook by Tony and went to speak to the man.

"Sir, please calm down." Ziva said facing him.

He was the same height as Ziva, yet round, with a bald head. He wore a work shirt with the hotel named on it.

"I will not calm down. What are you doing?" He demanded.

"Sir, we are federal agents." Ziva took out her id and showed it. "Special Agents Ziva David and Anthony DiNozzo, NCIS. We are investigating a murder and some evidence had been left out here in the hallways for us." Ziva said.

"Do you have security cameras?" Tony asked stepping up beside Ziva. He had placed the evidence in his room locked from any curious eyes from other guests.

"Can we please not do this here?" The man was paler now, but calmer. They all entered Ziva's room. Tony had moved her bags to his room after putting the evidence in his room.

After Ziva's door was shut, she motioned for the man to take a seat. "What is your name?" Ziva asked.

"I'm Marcus Berkley, the manager of the hotel." Marcus answered.

"Do you have security cameras?" Tony asked, repeating the earlier question.

"Yes we do." He replied.

"We need a copy of them." Tony said.

"That's impossible! We have to value the privacy and the anonymity of all of our other guests!" Marcus exclaimed.

"Marcus, Marcus, Marcus. You can either get us a copy of those security tapes, or we will be forced to interrogate everyone on the spot." Tony said watching the color fade out of Marcus's face.

"Yes sir, I will get them for you." He said weakly.

"Let me escort you to the front desk." Ziva said motioning him to go first.

"Fine. Let's just get this over with." Marcus said.

After Ziva and Marcus left, Tony went back across the hall to his room and gathered up his bags, Ziva's bags, and the evidence and headed out to the car. Making sure everything was in and secure, he locked the car back up and walked back in.

"Sir, can I help you?" A young red headed girl stood at the front desk.

"Why yes you can." Tony said and flashed his trademark 100 watt DiNozzo smile. "I need to check out of room 120 and 121."

"I can help you with that. Was everything ok?" She asked seductively.

"Yes it was, thank you," Tony said with a pause and reading her nametag, "Rose."

Ziva, who had been standing around the corner with the bag containing the guest list for the first floor and the security footage, stood and smiled at Tony who was flirting with the front desk attendant.

"Ah, there you are my little hairy butt." Ziva said walking over to him, taking his arm, and kissing him on the cheek. "The kids are waiting for us in the car." And with that, she left an opened mouth front desk attendant and NCIS agent staring after her. As soon as she walked outside, she bust out in laughter.

"Thank you sir, have a great day." Rose said while still in shock.

"That is just a nickname from a long time ago." Tony said quickly after what the hell had just happened and gotten into Ziva. He tried desperately to figure out a way to get out of this embarrassment with Rose; when he couldn't think of a way, he just quickly walked out.

He walked over to the car where Ziva was laughing all over again.

"Very funny Zee-vah." Tony said walking over to the driver's door.

"I thought so. You should have seen both of your faces. I got the king of pranks good, yes?" Ziva asked after the laughter fits subsided.

"I will admit it, it was a good prank." Tony said getting into the car.

Ziva followed suit and then asked, "So, what is the plan now?"

"Well," Tony said, "Gibbs said for us to take the evidence over to the local leo's office and overnight this stuff to Abby and McGee. After that, we continue on." Tony said while starting the car.

**MEANWHILE**

Two hooded figures hunched down inside their car. "Did you remember to block out the security feed?" The one guy asked.

"No shit Sherlock." The other replied, "It was like taking candy from a baby."

"Now, we wait for the car to fail, and then kill them both. However, I feel like we need to introduce ourselves to that beautiful agent." The first guy said.

**Well, whatch ya think? This story is REALLY taking a life of it's own on! I'm not complaining though. But I am asking for reviews, alerts, and favorites and repeat…just like the shampoo bottles say. Next chapter coming soon!**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Somebody's rich! – oh wait, it's not me. Oh well, hopefully one day.**

**THANK YOU SO MUCH for everyone who is submitting kind words, as well as alerting or favoriting! It means SO much!**

Right after Tony started the car, a shrill shriek broke the silence. "DiNozzo." Was all Tony said. "Just a second, boss." Tony lowered the phone and put it on speaker. "Ok. You are on speaker."

"Before you overnight the evidence from the local leo's office, I want you to scan the security footage and the guest list to McGee, and make yourselves a copy of the guest list. We are headed out to talk to some of the people he worked with and find out what he was working on."

"Got it Boss." Tony said to no one in particular since Gibbs hung up.

"Well, shall we go?" Tony asked placing his phone in the cup holder.

"No, I think we should sit here and stare at the sky." Ziva said with a serious face.

"Very funny Zee-vah. Where did you learn to be a smart ass?" Tony asked looking over at his partner.

"Why, from you Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. Wait, sorry, I meant to say _Very _Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo." Ziva said stifling a giggle.

Putting the car in drive, the two agents headed out of the parking lot toward the local state police headquarters a mile down the road.

"What's wrong Ziva?" Tony asked while he watched Ziva looking back from different angles at the red light in front of their hotel.

"Someone has been following us." Ziva stated turning around in her seat. "See that old dinged up car about 3 cars back? I have seen it everywhere we have gone since leaving NCIS."

"There are many cars like it-" Tony said trying to submit logic into the situation even though he knew if Ziva said there was someone following them, then there was.

"No Tony, Rule #40." Ziva interrupted. _If it seems like someone's out to get you, they are. _"This is the same car with two men in it."

"Ok. So why wouild someone be following us?" Tony mused out loud getting ready to turn onto the highway behind the line of now moving cars. "Keep an eye on it and see what it does."

Once Tony turned onto the highway Ziva spoke up, "It turned as well, but is now 4 cars behind us."

"Watch it now and see what it does." Tony said pulling into the West Virginia State Police headquarters without a turn signal.

"It slowed down and is pulling into the lot beside of us." Ziva said as Tony turned off the car.

"Let's at least get rid of this evidence, as soon as we can. "Tony said opening his door. Before he stood up, however, he added, "I don't think we should make ourselves a copy of anything just to be on the safe side. We should just carbon copy the email to ourselves."

"I do think that is a wise idea." Ziva said stepping out of the car.

The two agents walked towards the concrete building with the evidence in tow. Once inside, they walked up to a wooden Formica counter that looked like it had seen better days.

"Can I help you?" A gray headed older man in uniform stepped up to the desk.

"Yes, my name is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, and this is Special Agent Ziva David." Tony said while they both got out and held up their badge and ID for the officer to inspect. "We are with NCIS."

"NCIS? What are a couple of Navy detectives doing down this way?" The older gentleman asked handing back their ID's.

"We are talking to some suspects in a murder investigation." Tony state matter of fact.

"Well, I am Sergeant William Ball with the West Virginia State Police. What can I help you with?" He said shaking their hands.

"We need to borrow a computer, scanner, desk, as well as overnight some evidence." Ziva said hating the feeling of being ignored.

"I sure can help you with that. Please come on back." Sergeant Ball said. He waiting for the two agents to walk through the door he opened for them and then led them back to a bare office.

"Here is an office you can use. It's empty as you can see. The scanner is over there by the switchboard." Sergeant Ball pointed to the area just outside of their door. "And I will go grab you a box for your evidence."

He was gone for just a few seconds and came back with two of each 3 different types of boxes. "I wasn't sure what you would need, so I just brought a couple of what we have. Let me know when you have that ready or if you need anything." He stated and then turned around and left to give them privacy.

"He is really helpful." Tony stated sitting down at the computer.

"Yes he is. He reminds me of a grandfather." Ziva said and continued, "I will go scan these documents to the computer while you get a hold of McGee."

Tony took out his phone and dialed up McGee. Two short rings later, he heard McGee's voice answer the phone, "McGee."

"Well, hello Probie." Tony said.

"Hi Tony." McGee said from the other end.

"We are here at the State Police Headquarters in West Virginia. I am scanning the documents to you when Ziva gets done scanning them into the computer we are using. And the evidence will be sent out to you shortly as well." Tony said.

"Thank you. I will let Boss know." McGee said and sensed hesitancy in Tony.

"What else is going on?" McGee asked trying to pry it out of Tony.

"Ziva thinks someone is following us, and has been since we left." Tony said quickly through the phone.

"What do you think?" McGee asked with concern since Ziva was normally right.

"My gut says it's a possibility since this is coming from Ziva." Tony said again quickly so as not to get caught by Ziva.

"Stay alert and safe. Call if you need anything." McGee replied.

"Will do Probalicious. After we get everything sent out, I'm going to talk to some of these officers to see if they know anything about out dead officer. Text or call when you receive these." Tony said getting off the phone.

A few minutes later, Ziva came back in with the stack of papers in hand. "Everything has been scanned to this computer."

"Good. Wait, how did you know which computer?" Tony asked.

"I asked, plus the machine said empty office." Ziva said sitting on the edge of the desk by Tony.

The next few hours went by in a blur. Ziva and Tony sat in front of the computer looking through the security cameras and the guest register. They saw the hooded figure that stopped at Ziva's door. They could not make anything out on the tape. They next went though the guest list at the hotel. They saw nothing out of the ordinary. By the time they were finished looking through those, scanned the information to themselves and McGee, and packed up the evidence to be shipped, it was nearing on 1400.

"Before we go grab lunch, I want to talk to Sergeant Ball and any other officers just to see if they knew the victim." Tony said leaning back and stretching in his chair.

"Sounds good to me." Ziva said standing up and stretched.

Tony grabbed his phone when it started beeping. "McGee got the stuff we scanned him." He stated and put his phone away.

The agents made their way out of the office and over to Sergeant Ball's office boxes in hand. Tony knocked on the door and after a few seconds, the Sergeant motioned for them to enter.

"Did you get everything done?" Sergeant Ball asked and motioned for them to sit down.

"We did, thank you." Ziva said. "And here are the packages that we need to overnight. How much do we owe you for this?"

"Nah, don't worry about it. I was a Marine, and NCIS helped me and my family out before." He sat the boxes on his desk.

"Thank you!" Ziva said, her mind now working on why NCIS had helped him.

"Sergeant, can you tell us anything about Command Sergeant Major Roger Steve Snead?" Tony asked.

"Rog? What's he done now? I've known him for many years." Sergeant Ball leaned back in his chair.

"I'm sorry to tell you, but he is dead." Ziva said offering him condolences from herself and Tony.

"Wha-What happened to him? He had so many years ahead of him." Sergeant Ball said sadly.

"That is what we are trying to figure out." Ziva reassured him.

"Rog was like a son to me even though I ended up pulling him over a few times or arresting him a couple of times. He and my son were best of friends throughout school, and as far as I know, they both still are best friends. They both went into the military together." Sergeant Ball stated.

"What is your son's name?" Ziva asked.

"Staff Sergeant Ryan Ball and he is stationed at Fort Myer, but he is on leave and is here. He is at home. Here is my address if you would like to go speak to him." Sergeant Ball handed Tony a slip of paper with his address and home phone on it.

"Thank you Sergeant for everything. If you can think of anything else, please call one of us." Ziva said as they handed him their cards.

"I will. Please catch that bastard who did this." Sergeant Ball said taking the cards.

"We will, and thank you again for sending those out for us." Tony said as they shook hands and left back towards the car.

Once they were in the car, Tony called the home number that the Sergeant had given him. "Hello." A gruff voice answered.

"Hello. Is Staff Sergeant Ryan Ball available?" Tony asked.

"Speaking." Ball answered.

"My name is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo with NCIS, and I was wondering if I could come and speak with you regarding Command Sergeant Major Roger Steve Snead." Tony asked hoping that his answer would be yes.

"Sure, I was just heading out for some lunch. Can you come over around 3?" Ball asked.

"Sure. See you then." Tony said and hung up.

"We are going to meet him at 3" Tony said answering Ziva's look. "And now, food!" With that last statement, it earned a chuckle from Ziva.

Another mile back up the road, the agents came upon all the fast food restaurants. The quickest was almost always McDonalds, so they went there and went through the drive through. Tony had a Double Quarter Pounder with cheese meal and a coke, while Ziva had a Chicken sandwich meal and a Sweet Tea. Once they had their food, they started making their way towards Ball's house.

The Ball's lived in a nice quiet neighborhood and the end of a dead end street. The house was a raised ranch with red brick exterior and black shutters with a couple acres of yard. There was a black Chevy Colorado truck parked outside the garage.

Tony and Ziva climbed out of their car and walked up to the front door and rang the bell. A couple minutes went by before Ball answered the door. He had a shaven head, features like his father, and was in excellent shape. He wore tank cargo shorts, a white wife beater, and Nike tennis shoes.

"Staff Sergeant Ryan Ball?" Tony asked when the door was opened.

"Yes." Was all he said.

"I am Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo and this is my partner Special Agent Ziva David from NCIS." Tony said while both agents help up their badges and ID's once more to be examined. "Can we come in and talk to you?"

"Sure, but let's sit outside. I hate being cooped up on nice days like this." Ball led the agents through a primitively decorated house onto the back of a large patio overlooking a pool.

"What can I help you with?" Ball asked once they were seated.

"Do you know Command Sergeant Major Roger Steve Snead?" Ziva asked.

"Yes, he is my best friend, though I haven't heard from him for about a week." Ball stated, "Why?"

"We are sorry to tell you this, but he has been murdered. And we are very sorry for your loss." Tony said and added the last part when he saw Ball's face fall.

"H-how?" Ball look up at the agents sitting before him.

"We are still trying to figure everything out." Ziva said.

"What can you tell us about him? What was he working on? Was he having any problems anywhere with family or work?" Tony asked trying to get Ball started answering questions.

"He is…was….my best friend." Ball faltered for a second while starting to answer questions. "We grew up together, and he stayed over many times. When we got older, we were stupid, and my dad arrested us a few times and gave us some tickets. He eventually got married, and she cheated on him, so he did the same thing. They eventually got divorced, and he dumped his mistress. He tried a few times to make an effort to fix the marriage, but she didn't want any part of that. I would have known if he had a problem with anything because like I said, we were best friends. I know he hated his new obligation at work."

"What was he having to do?" Ziva asked prompting Ball.

"He had to make sure that everyone retired in the military at the maximum age." Ball said and continued, "He was having trouble with one guy, but never told me the name. All he told me was the guy was being an ass about it and was doing everything he could to not retire."

"Can you tell us anything else?" Tony asked trying to prompt him for more information.

"No, he didn't tell me anything else about the guy. But what he told me was after work before we went to work out just to blow off some steam. I take it that guy was going to be difficult to get him to retire." Ball said.

"We do thank you for your time. If you have anything else you can tell us, please give us a call." Ziva said handing Ball her card.

"Thank you. Please get this guy. Snead didn't deserve to die this young." Ball said shaking their hands.

"We will get this guy. We are sorry for your loss again." Tony said standing up. With Ziva right behind him, they showed themselves out and walked to the car.

Once in the car, Tony's phone rang. "DiNozzo."

"Whaddya got?" Gibbs asked.

"Well, on a hunch, we talked to the Sergeant who was at the state police headquarters. He knew our victim, and told us that his son was our victim's best friend. We just talked to the son, and he told us that the victim was in charge of making sure everyone retired by the maximum age if not earlier. The son also stated that there was one guy that refused to retire and was giving our victim a hard time about it. The son stated that he was never told the name or anything else." Tony said relaying this new information.

"Good job DiNozzo. We just got back from talking with people he worked with. We have all his files, and are starting to go through them. Get as far as you can tonight but stay again somewhere and talk to the ex-wife and husband tomorrow." Gibbs said and hung up.

"Yess Boss." Tony said to no one in particular.

"Gibbs said to get as far as we can tonight and interview the ex-wife and husband tomorrow." Tony said relaying the information to Ziva as he started the car and pulled away.

A few miles down the road, Ziva spotted that car again, this time daring to be closer to the agents' car and gaining spots. Ziva wished for the crowded streets instead of a deserted day time road.

"Tony, that car is back." Ziva said.

"I see it now." Tony said. "Hopefully once we get on the interstate it won't follow us. Keep a watch on it."

Before Tony could do anything, the car jerked and a loud PING sounded. Panic set in for the two agents. "Hold on!" Tony exclaimed trying to get the car to stop. Seeing as it wouldn't he tried to turn it and put it in the lowest gear possible. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Another PING sounded and the car would not turn or slow down. The side of the hill was rapidly approaching. Before the agents could do anything, the car tumbled down the side of the hill.

**Meanwhile**

The ratty red car didn't mind getting closer or being spotted now. Their time of completing the job was getting close. They knew from watching the car, that their plan was ready to happen. Seeing the start of their handy work happen, they were smirking as they quickly turned off the road and hid just in case any cars happened to come down the road.

**AN: Sorry for the delay! I hope that everyone likes the story! Please review, alert, and favorite the story! See you all next chapter!**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Sorry for the REALLY long delay! My computer crashed, then had crazy storms that knocked out power for a week. Needless to say, it's been an interesting summer. Thank you for all the great comments you have been leaving! Now, enjoy!**

_**PREVIOUSLY**_

_Before Tony could do anything, the car jerked and a loud PING sounded. Panic set in for the two agents. "Hold on!" Tony exclaimed trying to get the car to stop. Seeing as it wouldn't he tried to turn it and put it in the lowest gear possible. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Another PING sounded and the car would not turn or slow down. The side of the hill was rapidly approaching. Before the agents could do anything, the car tumbled down the side of the hill._

**TONY'S POV**

I was the first to wake up in the wrecked car. Dazed, I looked around. "Ziva," was all I could croak out in my dazed like state. I unbuckled his seatbelt and fell head first onto ceiling of the car. Quickly gathering my bearings, I remembered what happened. Thinking that whomever was in the car behind us was still around made panic set in.

Looking around the inside of the now totaled car, I saw Ziva still unconscious hanging upside down with her seatbelt holding her up. Thinking fast, I maneuvered my way to the back seat and kicked the side window out. I then climbed hastily out into the daylight. The sunlight hit me square in the face, and I squinted around. I tried looking up the hill we just took a scary ride down, but was too blinded by the spring sun.

Carefully making my way around the car, I tried to be on the lookout for any other people. As I made it to Ziva's door, with one more long hard look around, I crouched down to the door. I pulled on the handle, and as so it happens, it didn't open. I didn't want to break the glass with her so close and unaware. I could see her moving, and I could see she was still out, but having some type of dream.

I made my way to the window I had crawled out of. I crawled back in, and that's where I saw a sight that made my heart break. Ziva was crying and trying not to scream in her unconscious state. I quickly made my way back up to the front seat, and started talking to Ziva while keeping a look out and my gun on standby….

**ZIVA'S POV**

**It was hot. The dry air was rank with stench of unwashed flesh and spilled blood. Her eyes took their time opening up, and adjusting to her prison. Why did she stay? Her stupid pride left her in this rotting hell-hole. God, what she would give to share a private joke with Tim again, to watch his eyes light up as he laughed. And Abby, while she never made girl friends easily, and true, they were off to a rocky start, she needed one more night on the town. She could get lost in the music as she danced the night away with her friend. Gibbs, was he going to miraculously save the day? Would she ever get to hear another tale from Ducky, or see a smile on Jimmy's face? No hope... after days, weeks, months, she didn't know, hope was quite bleak, a mere pinprick of light in this otherwise dark nightmare. Despite the protest of her neck muscles, she shifted her head off the wall and looked down. She was disgusted and disappointed to find herself still chained to the rickety bed frame. She would have preferred to be in the chair. The bed's screeching springs were shadowy taunts of a previous hour. At least she had her mostly intact shirt, but she was bare from the waist down. With a grimace she remembered one man's promise that there was more to come. The others laughed at his filthy choice of words, and scurried out of the room. Don't get her wrong, she tried to fight, but it's hard to fight when you're chained and drugged enough to slow you down, but still be conscious to experience every groan, searing flesh on flesh, the hands, tongues, teeth, and... and**

**She threw up. or rather tried to, her body had nothing to give. **

**She wasn't about to be broken. No, there had to be a way out. She needed her team, her friends, her Tony. _Her_ Tony? Where had THAT come from? Who was she to deny herself how much she missed Tony. Mad as hell at him, yes, but... it's complicated. Not complicated anymore... her decision was made, and Tony was most likely chatting up her replacement. Perhaps she was broken, after all. _No one is going to fix you now, are they. _**

**The door opened. Saleem entered with a new pack of men. Their naked lust blazing in their eyes. The tallest pushed his way forward, simultaneously undoing his pants. She knew he looked familiar, but didn't want to try to remember. She wanted all this to blur in time. She would be free. _Please don't do this! Please!_**

**He plunged his engorged cock into her, muttering curses along the way. **

**She would live! _It hurts, please stop moving! MAKE IT STOP!_**

**Another hand roughly fisted her hair and jerked it toward another jutting cock.**

**She would see everyone again. _Somebody save me. _**

**Men lapped like dogs at her tits. Tears formed in her eyes.**

_**Just hold on, I must make it out alive.**_

**Saleem just watched for a moment, then turned to leave. Before he headed out the door, he said, "You have one hour to bring her to me. I've got some new prisoners to talk to, and then I'll kill her."**

"NO! PLEASE NO. QUIT! NO!" I immediately jerked awake. Shaking like a branch, or is it flower, I looked around quickly. I could not see desert, or hard block walls, or a shabby bed with many desolate memories. I saw a crunched up car, Tony sitting by me staring at me with a worried look, and the world upside down out the window.

"How long was I out?" I asked trying to swallow up my reoccurring dream to make my shaking disappear.

"About 5 minutes," Tony replied and hesitantly added, "Are you OK?

"I will let you know once I get right side up," I tried joking but failed miserably.

"Ok. I'm going to crawl back out and come around to you. When I get there, cover your eyes, and I will kick the glass and help you out." Tony said while starting to crawl once again to the back of the car.

"OK." Was all I could say. I hated to feel like a woman in distress, but gratefully, these few seconds allowed me sometime to lock my dreams and fears away for the time being.

Seeing his feet next to me, I moved as far as I could over and covered my head and face waiting for Tony to kick out the glass. Once he had done that, he took off his suit jacket and laid it over the glass. Setting half in and half out of the car, he instructed me to hold on to his shoulders while he undid my seatbelt. I did as he told, and fell quickly into his lap.

We set there for what seemed hours waiting for the world to become right side up…

**MEANWHILE**

"Do you think they survived?" The one guy asked as they got out apprehensively of their hidden car.

"Hope not. It'll be a quick payday this way." The other guy replied joining the first guy behind the car.

"I hope she survived, I think we ought to be able to have some fun." The first guy said as they grabbed their guns from the trunk and started making their way to the top of the hill where the agents' car rolled down.

"I get at her first." The second guy said turning to look down upon the crashed car. "See anything?" He asked looking down on the care.

"Yeah, I see the guy's moving around on the outside." The first guy said.

"What's he doing?" The second guy asked.

"It looks like he is helping the girl." The first guy stated.

"Well, ready to earn our payday?" The second guy asked getting in position.

"Ready." The first guy said joining the second guy in position.

**REGULAR POV**

Unfortunately, our time like this was short.

BANG BANG BANG

Tony and Ziva looked wildly around trying to figure out where the shots were coming from. Seeing no one across from them in the dense forest, they untangled themselves from each other and made a run with their guns drawn.

Once hidden behind trees, they peeked out and up the hill seeing the two guys shooting at them.

They began to return fire trying to hit far away targets with their handguns, but failing miserably.

The firing ceased when one of the mystery gunmen yelped in pain clutching his leg which had been shot by one Ziva or Tony.

Hearing a yell of a threat from the gunmen up the hill, of "we will find you and we will kill you," Tony and Ziva stood there confused and pumped up with adrenaline.

Staying put for another couple of minutes in silence, Ziva was the first to make a sound. "We need to move Tony. They will be back, and possibly with better guns or more help."

"Let's go." Tony agreed. He covered Ziva as they slowly made their way to the wrecked NCIS Dodge Charger.

While Ziva opened the trunk, Tony kept watch for the men to make their return appearance.

Ziva grabbed her backpack and dumped it out. She put in a heavy coat, copied evidence, her phone charger, and extra bullets. Once she had finished with her backpack, Tony did the same only adding what water bottles they had and some granola bars for them to share.

"We need to call Gibbs." Ziva said matter-of-factly knowing full well that Gibbs was going to be worried about them and possibly head slap them, especially Tony into next year.

"We will when we get far from here." Tony said ready to bolt just in case the men came back as promised.

"Which way do we go?" Ziva asked looking at Tony.

"Hold this," Tony said handing Ziva his backpack and climbing once more into the upside down car to retrieve the map.

"Follow me madam," Tony said starting to walk.

**MEANWHILE**

Back at the car, the two men were heatedly exchanging words.

"I can't BELIEVE you got hit by them!" The first man said tossing the second guy on the ground beside the car.

"Ow!" The second guy yelled.

"This was supposed to be a quick job!" The first man exclaimed while getting an old shirt to wrap around the second man's leg.

"That pretty boy is going to die a slow and painful death! The girl too – after we have some well deserved fun." The second man ranted while the first man tightly tied the old shirt around the second guy's upper thigh.

"That's for sure." The first man agreed while standing back up. "We need to call the boss and fill him in."

The first man walked to the other side of the car and produced a cell phone. Quickly, he punched in the familiar number. A man on the other side picked up the phone replying, "Yes?"

"We have a problem." The first man hesitated but then continued, "They escaped."

"How?" The man on the phone demanded.

"The car rolled down the hill, once they got out, we shot at them, but they ran and escaped." The first man replied but omitted certain details.

"You get them, or I will get you. Do whatever it takes to get rid of them!" The man on the phone yelled angrily through the phone and then abruptly hung up.

After walking back to the other man, the first man said, we need to come up with a plan."

**AN: I'm sorry it's SO short, but I wanted to give you guys something since it's been a while. Hope that everyone is enjoying the story!**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: SOOOO sorry for the delay! My computer crashed – yet again. Then, I got a brand new one for Christmas, but then as I was starting to write again, life got in the way. I got laid off from work and my boyfriend got hurt. Anyways, he is better and I have a new job, so I PROMISE to try and do better.**

**Also, I didn't get a chance to give my beta reader, WAYAMY27NARF major praise for the dream sequence last chapter. You rock girl!**

**Disclaimer: still working for a living, so I don't own squat except made up characters – though I can dream.**

**NCIS**

Gibbs and McGee were working, and had been most of the day, on silently going over everything that their victim was working on prior to death. This had proven to be a difficult task due to multiple responsibilities that he was in charge of. So far, they had weeded out most of those responsibilities down to enforcing forced retirement. They also had ruled out most of the witnesses that they had talked to at the hotel.

Suddenly, Gibb's cell phone sprang to life, "Yeah, Gibbs." He answered on autopilot.

After listening for a moment, he jumped up and said, "Calm down Abbs. We will be right there." Turning to McGee, he said "We got a problem McGee. Come on."

Together, the agents stepped into the elevator. McGee waited until the doors were closed before he asked, "What's going on Boss?"

Gibbs glanced over at McGee's refection in the steel in front of them that surrounded them and replied, "Not sure. We will find out when we go see Abby."

Before they knew it, they had arrived at the lab. During the short ride down, Gibbs had a gut feeling that this was not going to be good. He could feel himself tense more and more with every passing second. McGee picked up on this tension and found himself starting to follow suit.

The elevator doors could never open fast enough for the agents, so they were off before the doors opened completely. They stopped dead in their tracks at the scene – well, lack of scene – in front of them.

Not only was it growing darker due to the setting sun, but it was was eerie quiet. This was not normal, Abby would have turned on more lights with the setting sun, but the thing that worried them more, was that there was no music playing. The only time it was ever like this was when Abby was extremely worried or upset. Those who didn't know her said she did this when she was tired, but she was used to working ten plus hours a day. She could never get enough of her lab or her "family."

By her computer Abby had placed broom Ziva and mop Tony that Abby had made when the agents had gone undercover. McGee had successfully finished Tony's mustache at some point in time during that case. No one dared do that to Ziva's.

They then heard the familiar flatulent sound made from her famously farting hippo. They followed to see Abby sitting in the floor with a crestfallen face squeezing the aforementioned Bert. Both agents sad down on each side of Abby and Gibbs placed his hand on her leg.

They sat there in silence for a moment or two before Gibbs spoke up gently asking, "What's wrong Abbs?"

"It's Tony and Ziva." Abby replied in a small voice and never looking up.

Gibbs subtly jutted his chin at McGee signaling that he needed him to go get Abby's famous Calf-Pow! to help cheer her up. That unspoken order from Gibbs was normal for the team, or as everyone referred the "family." They could all look at each other and have an unspoken conversation through, not as well as Tony and Ziva though.

McGee stood up, nodded, and left. Gibbs followed suit and stood up extending his hand down to Abby. She looked up and without saying a word, took his hand and stood up. He helped her rise to her feet. "What's happened?" Gibbs asked softly to his other daughter.

"I was tracking them, like I do whenever one member of my "family" is gone." Abby started as they walked over to her computer. "I was working on some blood samples from Ducky and the ones from the scene when my computer beeped. I looked up ad they were gone. They're gone Gibbs."

Abby took a deep breath and rewound the enhanced video a few seconds before the beep disappeared. "I re-watched the video and this is what happened." Abby started the video and started describing what Gibbs was seeing. "As you can see, Tony and Ziva were moving along just fine, and then here," Abby pointed to the screen, "they start to swerve around and then disappear."

"They have to be OK Gibbs." Abby said reaching once again for Bert.

"Everything will be OK Abbs." He kissed her temple.

"Promise?" Abby asked while holding out her pinky.

"Promise." Gibbs said and linked his pinky with hers.

Gibbs left Abby to run satellite images and see what she could find out. He promised that he would send McGee down to help. Once the elevator doors opened, McGee stepped out and almost into Gibbs.

"Here you go Boss." McGee handed Gibbs a cup of plain black coffee.

"Thanks McGee. Go help Abby. She will fill you in." Gibbs said stepping into the elevator and waited for the doors to close.

"On it Boss." McGee said before he turned and went in the lab.

The quiet quick ride back up to the bullpen was interrupted by a ringing cell phone. Looking at the caller ID, he saw it was DiNozzo.

**Regular POV**

Tony and Ziva had been walking, for what Tony would call, forever. They had been walking mostly in silence which was giving Ziva the necessary time to bury that "dream" deep down inside of herself. Tony, for once, was too worried about her to try and keep any conversation going. The would stop every little bit to gauge where they were in position with the map, how close to the road they were, and if any other life was around that wanted them gone.

The sun was starting to quickly disappear into the night sky which was turning the warm spring air back into the cold winter air. They decided to stop again and Ziva pulled out the map and was studying it and figuring out where they were. Tony, looked around in the woods and saw a small plush green clearing with an old deeply hollowed out tree with a small stream that made it into a small like island.

"What do you think about camping here for the night?" Tony asked drawing Ziva's attention away from the map. Tony could tell she was still having an effect from the dream more so than the wreck by the way she was acting.

"Looks good to me." Ziva simply said and started to make her way warily over to the clearing through the forest.

_Under normal circumstances, this spot would be romantic_, Tony though wistfully. He has one woman in mind who he wished he could share this thought with, but he often thought that she didn't feel that way about him.

"What's the game plan?" Tony asked after they had finally made it to the spot.

Ziva set down her things by her feet and looked around. "Well, we need a fire, something to cover us as well sleep, a way to get clean water, and to call Gibbs." She took out her cell phone and looked at it. "I do not have any service." She said slowly waving it around and in different heights.

Tony got his out as well following her actions and replied, "I don't have any either. But there should be some by the road."

"You should go call Gibbs and I will get the campfire going." Ziva suggested looking around for the needed materials.

"Are you sure?" Tony asked not wanting to leave.

"I am sure. There is no point in both of us going. Plus, it will be dark soon, and I estimate it will take you about thirty minutes to make it to the road. That will be a total of sixty minutes with the addition of a thirty minute phone call, so about an hour and a half. It will starting to get really dark by the time you get back. I do not like us splitting up, but I think we have no choice." Ziva said while moving their things to the tree.

"Ok. I will hurry back. Please stay safe. I can't loose you again." Tony said and he left in a hurry to make the call and come back.

**ZIVA POV**

I stood there in shock. Were my ears deceiving me? Did he really just tell me that? I watched Tony leave to go call Gibbs. I prayed that I would see this man – this man that I was madly in love with – again. When I could not see him any longer, I turned back around and started to make the campfire, a blanket type thing to cover us, and hopefully to find a way to make sure we had some pure drinking water.

As I was working on those chores, I felt something wet fall on my arm. I looked down to see a few clear drops of liquid. I looked up at the clear evening sky wondering where they came from. It was then that it dawned on me that they came from me. I was crying. No matter how much I tried, I could not get all these emotions to settle down. I had all these thoughts in my head from being in love with Tony, to being so broken, to the need of survival.

Enough pitty for myself, I thought. I dried my eyes and looked at my watch. About an hour had past. I had paused many times to listen for sounds of any indication of other life out there. I was starting to get really worried about Tony because it was starting to get dark. I was kicking myself about not going with him.

Suddenly, I started hearing heavy forest footsteps coming towards me. They were far enough away that I could hide. I quickly darted into the darkness of the tree with my gun off safety so I could spring into action if need be.

**TONY POV**

I made the 30 minute walk, or should I say climb – uphill, to the road stoping occasionally to check for signal. Unfortunately, I had to go all the way to the road to make the call. I wanted to be back at that spot, with Ziva.

Once I reached the road and was within range of cell service, my phone beeped with 20 text messages, 43 missed calls, and 10 voice mails. I ignored them all, to save batter and to quickly get back to Ziva, and just made the call to Gibbs.

The phone only rang once before Gibbs answered and barked, "Where the hell have you been DiNozzo!?"

"Good to hear from you too, Boss." I said dryly.

"Well, what the hell happened?" Gibbs demanded gruffly.

"Well, the car went over the hill and flipped several times. We are OK, but knocked unconsious. However we had someone shoot at us. Not entirely sure how many shooters there were. Tim has the description of the vehicle that's been following us. I do, however know that we hit one of the gunman. We have left the scene and are camping tonight and continuing back on foot tomorrow." I reported quickly so I could hopefully head back and make sure Ziva was OK.

"What aren't you telling me DiNozzo?" Gibbs demanded. He could often know when things were 'hinky,' as Abby would put it, even if he wasn't there. It was sometimes creepy.

"It's...It's Ziva, Boss." I said.

"What's happened?" Gibbs demanded with his protective fatherly attitude that he had with Ziva and even Abby.

"Well, when we were unconscious, I woke up first. She was having some sort of dream...nightmare. I'm not entirely sure, but she terribly upset. Boss, I'm really worried." I said

"What did I tell you before? Keep an eye on her. She will talk when she is ready. Don't pressure her. She has been through so much. But talk to her and be there for her. In the meantime, get back to her watch each others sixes, and call me as soon as you can tomorrow." Gibbs ordered and broke the connection.

Taking one more look around, I headed back towards our site. At least it was downhill so hopefully it wouldn't take me as long to get back. I walked through the quiet, peaceful woods deep in thought. I knew Ziva was having a hard time healing from all wounds Somolia. I kept thinking of ways to help her and be there for her.

Before long, I was back at the site. My heart started sinking because I could see the progress that Ziva had made, but it looked like she had been disturbed. I quickly got my gun out of the holster and shelved my heavy sunken heart. I couldn't, however, shelve my worry about my love, my Ziva. Crossing the small stream I carefully made my way onto the site.

**AN: I hoped that everyone liked the chapter! I know it wasn't that exciting, but not every chapter can be filled with excitement, right? Please read, review, and repeat. Thank you all again for being patient, and I PROMISE I will be better with the updates!**


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Thank you for everyone who is still keeping up with the story! **

**Disclaimer: I'm hoping and wishing for the NCIS ownership for Valentines day, until then, still don't own anything.**

**TONY POV**

_Previously on Tony's POV_

_Before long, I was back at the site. My heart started sinking because I could see the progress that Ziva had made, but it looked like she had been disturbed. I quickly got my gun out of the holster and shelved my heavy sunken heart. I couldn't, however, shelve my worry about my love, my Ziva. Crossing the small stream I carefully made my way onto the site._

I quickly and quietly made my way to the center of the clearing. My heart was sinking more and more with every step and thoughts of an injured, kidnapped, or even killed Ziva. I paused in the middle of the clearing with my back to the tree, gun at the ready, listening for any sounds.

Suddenly, there was a powerful, painful, and explosive hit to the back of my knees which made them buckle. A thin arm wrapped around my neck into the classic sleeper hold position and was cutting off my air supply. I instantly knew this was Ziva and painfully croaked out, "Ninja, it's me, Tony."

**ZIVA POV**

I was hiding in the tree waiting for whoever was out there to pass or stop in front of me long enough to take down my threat. While waiting, images from events leading up to being captured made their way into my head. My throat threatened to close up. I quickly shut myself down to avoid making a mistake by being a camel in distress that could lead me loosing my life.

The image of a man came into view and stopped in front of me. Before I realized it was Tony, my autopilot self preserve took hold, and I had him on his knees. It was only when he croaked out, "Ninja, it's me, Tony," I let him go.

**REGULAR POV**

Ziva set down by him and blushed when she replied, "Sorry Tony. I heard footsteps." She then impulsively hugged him tight thankful he was back and unharmed.

Tony hugged her back tightly, his heart, and breathing, returning to normal. "I don't care. I'm just glad you are OK." The agent's stayed like that for a few minutes until the coolness of the night made Ziva shiver.

"We need to finish getting camp set up." Tony said releasing Ziva and helping her up. "What can I do?"

"If you want to drag those branches to the tree, I will light a fire." Ziva replied before they went and performed their tasks.

Tony had managed to drag a small log over for the duo to sit on. They now had a campfire, a cover for the night, and Ziva had even managed to somehow make a way to make sure they had pure drinking water from the stream.

Tony finished first and went back to his bag to bring out two granola bars from his bag. He brought them over and set down on the log.

Ziva, however, decided to sit on the ground with her back resting on the log. She gratefully accepted one of the granola bars that Tony offered her.

They ate slowly in comfortable silence. They were both starting at the fire that provided them with some warmth. Tony finished first and looked at Ziva. He saw her shivering.

He got up, and with a questioning look from Ziva, went and retrieved his suit jacket. He returned draped it around her shoulders, and sat on the ground next to her.

"Thanks." Ziva said, bringing the jacket front closer together in the front.

"No problem." Tony said and waiting a few minutes before he asked, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Ziva replied cautiously. She knew what the question was going to be before Tony even asked it.

"What were you dreaming about when you were unconscious?" Tony asked not daring to look at her.

"Tony, please." Ziva begged knowing that Tony would not like to hear it – or anything from that dark time. She wanted to protect him and the rest of her family from that time. More than that, she wanted to forget – she wanted to be rid of those memories and nightmares and be free again.

"Please Ziva. I want to help you." Slowly, Tony turned so he could see her. She had always been small, slender, and toned. When they rescued her, she was smaller and malnourished, and looked sickly. She had gained some weight, but still looked small than ever. So in his jacket, he noticed she looked like she was being swallowed up.

"Tony…" Ziva hesitantly began. And almost immediately her tears threatened to fall no matter how much she willed them to stay put. "There is so much that happened, and I promise to share it all with you – someday."

Ziva patted his cheek. He put his hand over hers and left it on his cheek. They sat like this for a moment lost in each others eyes. He then brought her hand down and kissed the top of her hand. He scooted closer to her and put his arm around her. She laid her head on his chest. She breathed in his scent.

Ziva knew in her heart that she needed to talk to someone. She hid everything so well from the NCIS psychologist that they mandated her to see. She had previously told Gibbs some of the things that had happened since he diligently watched over her when she was first brought home.

Ziva took a deep breath and began, "Tony, I…."

**MEANWHILE**

The uninjured gunman was driving and trying to figure out what to do. Suddenly, he turned into the parking lot at Airway Motel. This looked liked a place where he could get in, stay, and get out without a lot of suspicion about his buddy.

"Stay here and out of sight." He ordered and hopped out of the car.

"Like I'm going anywhere." The injured man mumbled after the other man left.

The uninjured man walked quickly into the front office to get a room.

"Can I help you young man?" An older gentleman slowly walked out of the back office.

"Yes, I would like a ground floor room in the back of the motel." The strange man grabbed his wallet.

"Ok. Just put your name here." The gentleman pointed to the line on the form. "How long are you planning on staying?"

"As of now, just two nights. How much do I owe you?" The strange man opened his wallet to pull out some cash.

"Forty dollars even." The older gentleman said and took the cash he was handed without a second thought or comment. "Your room is number 147. Go around the building and it is right by the ice machine by the hill. Have a nice stay sir."

"Perfect. Thank you." The man took the key and turned around to leave.

The man walked back out and got back in the car where the injured man was falling asleep inside. He started it and drove around the building. Once he parked, he ran out and unlocked their room. Running back, he eyed the lot carefully to make sure there were no witnesses around.

"Come on." He said and grabbed the injured man and dragged him out of the car.

"Easy man! This shit hurts!" The injured man half yelled.

"Hey dumbass. Keep your voice down!" The uninjured man commanded and half ran and half dragged the man into the room. Once they were in the room, he tossed him on the bed.

The uninjured man went back to the door and took one last look around outside and shut the door. Turning to the injured man he said, "I'm going to go look for some medical supplies that we can use. STAY STILL and don't open the door for anyone!"

"Ok." Was all he said before the man took off out the door.

He drove a few miles down the road a came upon a Veterinarian Hospital that looked like it was closed up for the day. He decided to go there to get the supplies so he could get in and out without all the questions or people stopping him. He pulled into the lot and made the call he was dreading.

"Is it taken care of?" A tense voice demanded.

"No sir, we have a little situation, but I am handling it." The man said staring at the hospital.

"What the hell happened? I give you one task!" The anger started rising with the already on edge stressed man.

"They survived the crash. We fired at them, but they returned fire. Jerome was hit, but he I am patching him up. They can't survive long out there in the woods in this weather. We will get them tomorrow."

Crossing the lot to the back door, the man on the other line said, "Be sure you do. Otherwise, don't come back." And with that, the line was dead.

He broke the glass in the back door and entered. He had made a mistake though. The vet and his two assistants were still there. Only one thing for him to do.

BANG

BANG

BANG

**AN: Well, what did you think? Hope everyone liked it! **


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Well, no such gift for Valentine's Day. Still broke and no ownership of anything. Oh well. On to the story!**

**LAST TIME**

_Ziva knew in her heart that she needed to talk to someone. She hid everything so well from the NCIS psychologist that they mandated her to see. She had previously told Gibbs some of the things that had happened since he diligently watched over her when she was first brought home._

_Ziva took a deep breath and began, "Tony, I…."_

**REGULAR POV**

"Tony, I…" Ziva started, and before she got anything else out, the tears that she had been holding back, started falling. "Damn it." She said under her breath while starting to wipe them away.

"This dream was a nightmare, it is one of the many I actually have at night. This time, I was back in that camp." Ziva sucked in some air and paused. She was too afraid to look at Tony.

"Go on. I'm right here. Nothing you will tell me will make me go anywhere." Tony said, he could tell this still scared her. He pulled her closer to where she was almost sitting in his lap.

"I was back in that camp. It was one of the last days. I was chained to my bed, naked from the waist down. I had been drugged, so I could not fight. At this point, I had given up. I wished that death would find me and relieve me from this pain and torture. I would not give up information about NCIS, Gibbs, you, or anyone." Ziva said with tears still staining her cheeks.

"Saleem brought men into my cell. He watched while they, while they.." Ziva could feel her stomach turn as she recalled what happened. She did not want to bring pain to anyone. But she could not keep pushing Tony away. She lost him once before, she could not go through it again because this time, she might not survive.

In a small voice, barely above a whisper, she finished, "raped me."

Tony felt anger like no other time before. He wanted to bring Saleem back and hurt him like he hurt Ziva. Tony also felt guilt. If it wasn't for him, Ziva would have never been hurt. Tony didn't realize it, but he was crying also.

Ziva continued, "He watched. But before Saleem left he told the men they had one hour and then I was to be brought to him. He had other prisoners to interrogate then I would be killed. That's when I woke up."

All her fears were threatening to be unleashed in a rush of words. Ziva fought hard to keep them hidden and locked up. All it took was one look at Tony for them to break through the walls and spill out like water from a broken damn.

"Tony, look at me." She placed her hands on each side of his face and made him look at her. "I do not blame you. I blame me because it was my pride that I stayed behind. I blame my father. He was the one who sent me and left me. He is the reason I am broken."

"Ziva, you are not broken. You are strong and beautiful. When you were gone, I became an alcoholic. More than once I had Gibbs come and pick me up from bars. He would even bench me more than a few times. I became something I didn't recognize. I thought I lost you Ziva. It made me realize that I loved you." Tony said staring in the fire completely surprised that he told her his secret.

Ziva blinked a couple times not believing her ears.

Still unsure that he said he loved her, she looked at him and asked, "You love me?"

"I sure do. I didn't realize it until I thought it was too late. Every time we went out on a case, I didn't want to come back."

"Tony, you kept me going through all that hell. All I wanted was to be back here, with you. I love you too." Ziva replied and continued, "When Saleem jerked that bag off my head, I thought he had killed me already. I saw you, and I never thought I would again. Then when I was brought home, I saw these other women, and how oblivious they were to things going on around the world. You deserve that. I'm too broken. Saleem took any chance I had to have a normal life away. I'm not even sure I can have children anymore, and I want that. I want that and a life with you."

Ziva was crying again, and Tony wipped away her hears with his thumbs.

"I don't care. Zi, if you give me, give us a chance, I don't care. We can make it through anything. Please." Tony said desperately.

Before she could say anything, he brought his lips to her.

They both thought this is home. This is where I want to be.

**AN: Sorry it was short and all TIVA, well, I don't apologize for all TIVA because I LOVE THEM! But I also felt that this needed to be a chapter all on its own. I hope everyone is still liking the story! Please review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Still don't own anything. Thank you all for the reviews, alerts, and favorites! So, please enjoy!**

**Also, the Gibbs and Abby scene is dedicated to my wonderful friend and beta, WAYAMY27NARF**

**PREVIOUSLY ON NCIS**

"_I don't care. Zi, if you give me, give us a chance, I don't care. We can make it through anything. Please." Tony said desperately._

_Before she could say anything, he brought his lips to her._

_They both thought this is home. This is where I want to be._

**REGULAR POV**

Tony and Ziva stayed cuddled up together in front of the fire until the coldness of the night cut through the warmth of the fire.

After putting out the fire, they then cuddled underneath the branches that were there to hide them until morning.

**AIRWAY MOTEL**

The uninjured man made his way back into the room with medical supplies in hand. Jerome was setting on a chair, still bleeding, and watching TV.

"Here, fix yourself up. I'm going to take a shower." The uninjured man said tossing the bag of supplies to the other guy.

"Go figure I would have to do it myself." Jerome growled getting the supplies out of the bag after his partner closed himself in the bathroom

Jerome carefully and painfully cleaned the area and patched it since it was only a deep graze. He used as little as he could so he could save the rest of the supplies for later just in case he needed them.

He finished just in time for his partner to come out of the shower.

His partner tossed a bottle of Aleve. "Take some; it will help with the pain."

"Ok. I'm going to get cleaned up." He said and disappeared into the bathroom with the bottle of Aleve.

After Jerome came out of the bathroom, he sat down on the other bed.

His partner spoke up, "We need a plan of action. I talked to the Boss, he is NOT happy."

"They won't be traveling tonight." Jerome stated matter-of-factly. "They had an early morning and then a car crash."

"You are right." His partner said. Pulling out a map, he continued and pointed to a spot between the State Police headquarters and where they crashed, "I think we should start here."

"Good idea." Jerome said and then stretched out under the covers. "I'm going to sleep."

"I'm going to watch some TV and then go to bed." His partner said while thinking what all he was going to do to the pretty female agent.

**VET OFFICE**

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" A young woman who works as the receptionist walks into the vet's office. She sees all the blood and the three dead bodies of her boss and co-workers.

Numbly, she runs outside and throws up. After regaining herself, she calls 911 to report the murders. She is told to wait and sinks down on the grass outside. She is still shaking and crying when the police show up.

Sergeant William Ball squatted in front of the woman to put them on the same level. "Ma'am. Can you tell me what happened?"

"I.I walked into the office before we opened, like always. I smelled something off. I looked up and that's when I saw the blood and…and…my friends." With that, she started crying again.

"Thank you. Please stay here." Sergeant Ball said and stood up. He went over to his men and talked to them. He brought a young, green officer over to the woman. "Ma'am, this is Officer Derek Staples. I'm going to have him get your contact information and then drive you home. If you remember anything else or need to get in contact with me, here is my card."

"Th-Thank you." She said as she took the card and was led to a cruiser by Officer Staples.

"Ok men, let's figure out what happened." Sergeant Ball stated and then started giving out orders to his men.

**NCIS**

Gibbs always arrived before anyone else. Some thought he worked and slept at NCIS. He didn't mind the rumors; it made everyone fear him a little more. He had been blown up, shot at, and much more, plus, _killed_ people, so yeah, people were afraid to get on his bad side.

Before going to the bullpen, Gibbs made a detour to Abby's lab. She always got worked up and upset when one of her family members got hurt or was missing. But Gibbs knew how to make her happy until that family member came back home.

After he left Abby's surprise to where she would find it, he went to get his strong black coffee, to support his addiction, and then head to his desk to work on the current case.

When he finally made it to the bullpen, McGee was already hard at work completing the tasks from the previous day which was finding out the information about that car and its drivers from Tony.

He strode into the bullpen and before he could say, "Whaddya got, McGee," the elevator doors opened and a flash of black streak through and jumped on Gibbs.

"Hello to you too, Abby." Gibbs said and kissed her temple as he hugged her back.

"Oh my gosh! Thank you SO much Gibbs!" Abby said bouncing around. "I love the balloons, and the black roses with red tips, and of course, my Calf-Pow!" And with one more bone crushing hug, she was gone as fast as she appeared. She did, however, make a stop to give McGee a bone crushing hug as well.

After Abby left, Gibbs looked at McGee and said, "Whaddya got?"

McGee stood up, grabbed the remote, and walked up to where Gibbs stood with coffee in hand.

"The brown car is registered to Jerome White. He's 37, unemployed, and he has several things on his rap sheet from sexual assault to robbery to murder. According to the database, it is suspected that he is murder for hire." McGee said clicking through the slides for Gibbs to read.

"Good work, McGee." Gibbs said while heading towards the elevator. He paused, turned around, and said, "See what shows up in his financials and bank accounts. Set up a BOLO."

"On it, Boss." McGee said and sat down to start on his new assignments.

**ABBY'S LAB**

Gibbs stepped off into the lab, which was still eerily quiet, but now had music on low.

Gibbs snuck up behind Abby, leaned down to where he was right by her ear, and said "Whaddya got, Abbs?"

"GIBBS!" Abby yelled and jumped. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Gibbs chuckled and kissed Abby on the side of her head. "Sorry Abbs."

He held out another Calf-Pow! in his hands. She took it and said, "You are forgiven, my silver haired fox." She followed this with a bow, but looked up in time to see the ever so slight smirk on Gibbs' face

Abby took a big drink and gave him the news that all she had was a partial that didn't belong in the hotel room. It didn't belong to anyone that was a guest, or a witness, the victim, or any suspects so far. "I'm working on it Gibbs, but with a partial, sometimes it can take a while."

When Abby turned around, Gibbs had already made his Exit. While the computers and machines worked their magic, she went into her office, sat down, and drank her Calf-Pow! while looking at her flowers and her skull balloons.

**BULLPEN**

Gibbs made his way back to the bullpen. As soon as he sat down, McGee jumped up and yelled "BINGO!"

Gibbs looked at him like he lost his mind. McGee's face lit up with the exhilaration of the find.

"Boss, I got a hit on the car." McGee said walking to the plasma.

**Well, what do you think? Please please PLEASE review! Alerts and favorites are awesome too! I love them all!**


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Still working for a living, so no ownership. Sigh. Oh well, I hope that you have enjoyed the story and continue to do so! Also, if you have any suggestions or anything you want to see, please pm me with those suggestions!**

**Previously on NCIS**

_Gibbs made his way back to the bullpen. As soon as he sat down, McGee jumped up and yelled "BINGO!"_

_Gibbs looked at him like he lost his mind. McGee's face lit up with the exhilaration of the find._

"_Boss, I got a hit on the car." McGee said walking to the plasma._

**REGULAR POV**

"Well, whaddya waiting on, McGee?" Gibbs said while jumping back up and walking over to the plasma.

"The car belongs to a Jerome Taylor. He is 29, and has several charges against him for murder and fraud. It looks like he has been released on multiple mistrials. He is also suspected on several other murders. According to police captain Jim Singleton, he is murder for hire. He has been involved with several influential people." McGee said clicking away on the remote for the plasma.

"We need to find out who he is working for and if anyone is working with him." Gibbs said and stopped only because he was interrupted by a ringing at Tony's empty desk. "And get that phone."

Gibbs started walking to the stairs to go up into MTAC to get some intel on their suspects while McGee walked over to Tony's desk.

"Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo's desk. Agent Timothy McGee speaking." McGee said after picking up the phone.

"Yes. I am Sergeant Ball with the West Virginia State Police. I need to speak with Agent DiNozzo." Sergeant Ball was in his office looking over the evidence from the recent murder.

"He hasn't made it back from the field. Can I help you with something?" McGee said sitting down at Tony's desk getting out a piece of paper and a pen.

"Well, I've been trying to call his cell phone. But we have had a murder down here, and I have a surveillance video with a DC tag. I think this might tie into your investigation somehow." Sergeant Ball said.

"He has turned off his cell to preserve battery. They were run off the road by someone who has been following him. I'll send you the coordinates if you give me your contact information." McGee said and then copied down what Sergeant Ball gave him.

"I'll send you what we have from the murder. Is the information on Tony's card correct? And I'll also send my men out to look for them." Sergeant Ball stated and continued by saying, "I'll be in touch soon."

McGee replied standing up by saying, "Yes it is. And that sounds good. We will be in touch with you as well."

With that, the line went dead. McGee replaced the phone in the cradle and went over to his desk to send the information he promised. He also included information about Tony and Ziva's car, the brown car including the owner, and a general report of what they had.

By the time he was finished sending, all this information, Gibbs had made his way back down to the bullpen.

"Boss," McGee said and jumped back up. They met at the plasma and McGee continued, "That was Sergeant Ball from the West Virginia state police." McGee relayed everything that they had talked about during the phone call.

"Good job McGee. We can't take any chances. Check out the members of the detachment." Gibbs said and went to the elevator.

"Yes Boss." McGee said and went to work.

**MEANWHILE IN WV**

In the small motel room, the men were getting ready for this job to be done. They were deciding what they wanted to do with the pretty agent and her partner. With the devilish plan mutually agreed upon, they went out into the morning light and headed out in search of the agents.

**AN: Well, I hope everyone likes it. I don't want to crowd and get too much in a chapter. So, for a few more chapters, they will be on the shorter end. I do apologize for that.**


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: It sucks, with as much as I love the show, still now ownership. *sigh***

**Onto the story!**

**LAST TIME ON NCIS**

_In the small motel room, the men were getting ready for this job to be done. They were deciding what they wanted to do with the pretty agent and her partner. With the devilish plan mutually agreed upon, they went out into the morning light and headed out in search of the agents._

**ZIVA POV**

I woke up with a start. I was cold and could not remember why. But it all came flooding, or is it streaming, back. The chase. The car crash. The nightmare. The shooting. The walking. The camping. The talk. Wait, it was THE talk that we had been avoiding ever since the day I accused him of having phone sex.

I groaned and turned my head to see one very handsome Tony DiNozzo still asleep with one arm underneath my head serving as a pillow and his other arm draped over me, yet holding me protectively.

I sighed in content not wanting to move. However, the dark shadows of people chasing us and trying to kill us, made me realize we needed to get up and get a move on.

"Tony." I said sitting up.

"AHngfoiehsi." Was all I heard from him. It was, of course, gibberish mumbling.

"Tony. We need to get up and get moving before we are found." I said with a little more force. I stood up and stretched, already missing my morning run. Looking at the sun's current position in the sky, I figured it was close to 6 AM.

"Alright, alright. I'm up." Tony said, a little more awake. He had not moved or even opened his eyes, so I suspected he was falling asleep. Only one way to fix that.

I walked over to the stream and got a handful of water. I made my way back to where a sleeping Tony was laying. Carefully I poured the water out of my hand onto his head.

"AHHHHHH!" Was all Tony yelled and jumped up into a fighting stance just like he did under our first undercover assignment together.

I could not help but laugh.

"Ha Ha Ha Ziva. Very funny!" Tony said stretching now that his heart rate returned to normal.

This made me laugh even more because all I could see in my mind was when I did that to him before and he jumped up on the bed like he was ready to kick some ass.

**TONY POV**

"I'm glad you found that funny, Zee-va." I said walking over to grab two more granola bars from by gear.

"I am sorry, Tony. But if roles were reversed, you would be laughing, yes?" Ziva asked. As much as I was pretending to pout, I could not try for long. I always loved to see her laugh and smile. It lit up the whole forest and was contagious.

"You're right. I would." I handed her a granola bar which she gladly took. We set down by the remains from last nights fire. _I have _got_ to remember to do that to McGoo._ I thought to myself.

**MEANWHILE**

The two men made their way to the car. With both in deep thought about their plan, they headed out.

"How's your leg?" The uninjured man asked.

"It's stiff, but fine." Jerome said.

"Good because if we don't succeed, then we are as good as dead." The other guy said.

They drove for a few minutes in silence. Soon, they came to a clearing near where they wrecked the car. They pulled into the clearing and got out.

From the trunk, they grabbed their guns and extra ammo. Jerome had remembered to bring the map with them.

Cautiously they headed into the woods in search of their prey.

**AN: Well, what do you think is going to happen next?**

**Hope you all like it! Please read, REVIEW, alert, and favorite!**


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: Still don't own squat. Sigh, maybe eventually.**

**I want to take a moment and thank EVERYONE for the reviews. In the stories that I have read, the writers thank everybody in every chapter. I appreciate you more than you will ever know, and hope that you don't take offense when I don't name everyone individually. If you do, you have my sincerest apologies.**

**Now, onto the story!**

**PREVIOUSLY ON NCIS**

_The two men made their way to the car. With both in deep thought about their plan, they headed out._

"_How's your leg?" The uninjured man asked. _

"_It's stiff, but fine." Jerome said._

"_Good because if we don't succeed, then we are as good as dead." The other guy said. _

_They drove for a few minutes in silence. Soon, they came to a clearing near where they wrecked the car. They pulled into the clearing and got out. _

_From the trunk, they grabbed their guns and extra ammo. Jerome had remembered to bring the map with them._

_Cautiously they headed into the woods in search of their prey._

**REGULAR POV**

Tony and Ziva were walking as quickly and cautiously as they could so as to not get themselves injured by carelessness in the woods. They stopped several times looking at the map and arguing which way to go. Ziva, though, always won out reminding him what happened every other time that he read a map.

The one instance she always brought up was when he was trying to read a map at a state park, and still walked the opposite way when even the trail they were to go on was clearly marked.

Around 11:30, the duo sat down on a fallen tree and ate the two remaining granola bars. They ate in comfortable silence and thought about their morning so far.

While they were walking this morning, Tony had been grumbling about being up at six. But in truth, he didn't even start moving until six thirty. This had pushed their tentative schedule back to start walking to at least 8:30, which aggravated Ziva.

So, here they were, two hours later, and around five miles down, they sat and ate an early lunch.

"We need to make a better plan tonight, Tony. I do not like lingering in one place to long while someone is after us." Ziva said after taking another bite of her granola bar.

"I agree." Tony said, "But I told you, we would have been to Bluefield if we had taken the interstate."

"Yes, we might be there already, but it is not safe. They will be looking for us. We were wise to not double back to the interstate." Ziva said taking a drink of water and then continuing, "Plus, we have walked for about five miles, and by my calculations, Bluefield is about five and a half more miles away."

Ziva finished off her granola bar and continued, "If you had not taken your time on your hair, we could have been there. We should have left when we agreed. Who knows where those gunmen are."

Tony finished his granola bar and said, "Well, sorry, Zee-vah. You are the poster child for punctuality."

"Why do you always say that!?" Ziva exclaimed.

"Because you, my dear, are always exactly on time." Tony said giving her one of his traditional lopsided DiNozzo smiles.

"You are impossible." Ziva said trying to contain a chuckle.

"True, but you love me and wouldn't have it any other way." Tony said stuffing their wrappers away.

"True. The only thing I would change would be getting rid of the hair on your butt." Ziva said laughing while examining their map. She was referring to their first undercover assignment to which she gave him the nickname hairy butt.

"Once and for all, my butt is NOT hairy!" Tony said getting up.

This made Ziva laugh a little harder. She put the map away and stood up. She kissed him on the cheek and said, "It might be hairy, but it is still cute." She then patted his cheek and started walking with Tony trailing behind.

**MEANWHILE**

The two gunmen stumbled their way through the woods, stopping only to listen to the woods around them for any sign of life. Soon, they made it to the clearing where the two agents had spent the night.

"Look what we have here." The unidentified man stated.

"They are very resourceful." Jerome admitted sitting down for a beat. His injury was doing better as it was only a flesh wound. It was sore, but he was able to do his job, though nothing short of death would stop him anyway.

They searched the site for any clues as to where they might go. Finding none, they sat down and looked at the map as to which way to go.

"Well, they didn't double back – at least we didn't see them." The unidentified man said.

"They are too smart for that, that's why they are Feds." Jerome said. He took the map out and opened it up. "I've been thinking. They are smart, like I said, so thy are probably following the road into Bluefield." He moved his finger down the map following the path.

They felt it that every step, every second, was bringing them one step closer to their payday which was the biggest one yet. But with bigger paydays, there were more dangers and risks.

**BACK AT NCIS**

"Yeah, Gibbs." The elevator ride up to the bullpen had been interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone.

"Boss, the evidence from West Virginia just arrived. Abby and I are in the evidence garage." McGee said from the other end of the phone.

"Good." Gibbs said hitting the button for the doors to close on the elevator to bring him back down. "I'll get Ducky and Palmer to meet you in there." Gibbs shut his phone and headed down towards Autopsy.

"Good morning, Jethro!" Coroner Doctor Donald Mallard, or Ducky to friends and family, said in his usual greeting.

"Morning Duck." Gibbs said walking into the room of death.

"Duck, I need you and Palmer to come with me to the evidence garage." Gibbs said already turning on his heels.

Ducky and Palmer looked at each other and hurried after Gibbs. They barely made it into the elevator before the doors closed and they rode swiftly and quickly down to the evidence garage.

They all stepped out and into the garage where Abby and McGee were working to sort out all the evidence. "Duck, Tony and Ziva are in trouble. They were run off the road and are trying to stay alive from two gunmen. One of which has been shot by either Tony or Ziva." Gibbs was filling them in.

"Oh dear. They will be fine Jethro." Ducky said and continued by saying, "They are trained, and Ziva is ex-Mossad for goodness sakes, just as long as Tony isn't given the task to read a map, they will be fine."

This last statement cause everyone to laugh – even Gibbs cracked a smile and chuckled. They could all now feel the mood had shifted and felt like a small weight had been lifted.

Once some of the chuckling had quieted down, Gibbs resumed filling him and his quiet side kick, Jimmy Palmer in. "The same car that Ziva saw following them was at a murder in Princeton, West Virginia. The West Virginia State Police gladly sent us the evidence, pictures, and rushed autopsy report."

McGee finished up by saying, "I believe that these are connected, and this happened because, more likely Ziva, shot one of the gunmen. We know there are two, but we only have one identified."

"Good, we all know what we need to do." Gibbs said and paused. He looked around while everyone was still standing here and said, "Well, what are you all waiting for?"

With that, everyone scattered.

**REGULAR POV**

Tony and Ziva had FINALLY made their way into Bluefield. They were relieved. Now, they could get a decent meal and a place to sleep, recharge, and wait to be rescued.

Walking along, they argued where to stay at but ultimately decided on the Econo Lodge. Tony went in to get their room, while Ziva stayed outside and looked around the hotel.

He came out and said, "Good news and bad news."

"Ok." Ziva said warily.

"Good news, we got a room." Tony said holding up two key cards. "Bad news, there was only one room left."

"We will share. I do not mind cuddling up next to you." Ziva said with a seductive voice and look.

Tony audibly gulped, and then Ziva broke out in laughter. She grabbed his had and they walked to their room, hands still linked.

Once inside the room, they dropped their things on the bed then cleaned themselves up just enough so they could go out and eat.

Tony called a cab while Ziva was finishing up. They went to Ryan's and stuffed themselves on the buffet, then ran to Kroger's and restocked their water supply and granola bars.

On the way back to the hotel, they each wondered what this night would bring them since their talk the previous night.

**MEANWHILE**

The two gunmen had just returned to their car with their new plan in mind of going hotel to hotel showing pictures and fake police badges. But with the start of the phone ringing, knew that their plans were probably getting ready to change.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" A loud, angry, and tense voice yelled through the phone. "You two are supposed to be the best! Andy why were you out of range?"

"We were on the trail of the agents." The unidentified man stated, and quickly added, "There was no service."

"Well, I did get your text, and did the work for you." The man spat over the phone, and then threatened, "If I keep doing your work for you, the fee will drop."

"Fine, just give me what you got." The uninjured man said calmly on the outside, but inside he was starting to boil with anger.

"They just used a credit card at the Econo Lodge in Bluefield, West Virginia. Get them, and get them fast. I want this over and done with." The man said over the phone and hung up.

The two gunmen looked at each other, still boiling with anger, but happy that they now knew where their marks were.

**AN: DUN DUN DUN! Hope you all liked this chapter! Please read, review, alert, favorite, and repeat! See you all next chapter!**


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: Well, the disclaimer is still the same – still don't own squat. And it's depressing. But anyways, this chapter is a little short, and I'm sorry. But I hope I made up for it in some TIVA fluff! And MAJOR props to WAYAMY27NARF for the help!**

**PREVIOUSLY ON NCIS**

"_They just used a credit card at the Econo Lodge in Bluefield, West Virginia. Get them, and get them fast. I want this over and done with." The man said over the phone and hung up._

_The two gunmen looked at each other, still boiling with anger, but happy that they now knew where their marks were._

**CURRENTLY ON NCIS**

The two gunmen headed back to their room so they could make their new plans, plus grab a bite to eat seeing as they hadn't eaten yet today. They drove through Wendy's and headed back to their room.

Once they were in the room, the uninjured guy spoke up, "Ok. We know where they are. We need to come up with a plan."

They each ate their meals deep in thought on the best way to get in and out cleanly.

Jerome was the first to finish his meal, so he said, "Why don't we just go to the door, knock on it, and say room service. Then, when they open the door, we rush in."

"No. Won't work. They are two armed federal agents." The uninjured guy said.

A few moments went by and then the uninjured guy exclaimed, "Aha! I got it!"

For the next half hour, they went through the plan to make it as fool proof as they could.

**ECONO LODGE, BLUEFIELD, WEST VIRGINIA**

Tony and Ziva had made it back to their rooms with stomach's full.

"I am going to go take a shower, you should call Gibbs." Ziva said standing up and walking into the bathroom after Tony came out from his shower. She softly shut the door.

Tony took his phone and turned it on. Looking at it before he called, he only had eighteen missed calls, twenty text messages, and three new voice mails. They all could wait, at least the ones that weren't from the team.

He called Gibbs, and of course, Gibbs answered on the first ring, "Bout time, DiNozzo."

"Nice to hear your voice Boss." Tony said sitting back on the bed.

"Are you guys OK?" Now, Tony could hear the fatherly part of Gibbs come out. He really only let it show when Abby and Ziva were concerned.

"We are. We camped out last night, and then we are now in Bluefield, West Virginia at the Econo Lodge." Tony said.

"Good. Keep your eyes open. That car that Ziva noticed was at a crime scene at a vet's office. We are working on what was sent to us. But it looks like they only stole supplies to do a patch up work." Gibbs relayed which made Tony realize that they were being hunted even more real.

"Watch both of your sixes. Get a car in the morning and get your asses back here in one piece." Gibbs said.

"Will do, Boss. By the way," Tony added after making sure Ziva was still in the shower, "Ziva started talking about her dreams to me and what happened."

"Good. Keep her doing that. That's the only way for all of us to heal. Hear me DiNozzo?" Gibbs said, silently relieved that his daughter felt ready to talk.

"Yes Boss." Tony said to the dial tone. He tossed his phone to the side of the bed.

When he sat back down on the bed, Ziva stepped out of the bathroom, hair wet and down, wrapped only in a towel. Her skin was glistening and still damp. She took the lotion the hotel provided and started rubbing it on her legs.

"Like what you see?" Ziva asked not looking away from her task.

"Ah…Er…yes." Was all Tony could muster. He couldn't stop staring.

The TV was tuned to a country music channel, which was perfectly fine with them. The next song began to play.

_Sometimes it feels like, I'm gonna break  
>Sometimes this world, gives more than I can take<br>Sometimes, sunshine gets lost in the rain  
>And it keeps pouring down<br>It just keeps coming down. _

Ziva's head shot up and looked over at the TV. She made a mental note that the singers were a group by the name of Thompson Square. She would really have to start listening to more country music. This was the truest song she had heard. Their jobs made their life so unpredictable. But yet, Tony had rescued her time and time again. It was time to show him how she felt. She already knew how he felt. She could only hope he wanted this as much as she did.

_This life would kill me If I didn't have you  
>I couldn't live without you baby<br>I wouldn't want to  
>If you didn't love me so much<br>I'd never make it through  
>'Cuz this life would kill me<br>This life would kill me if I didn't have you._

She continued to rub lotion on her legs, completely unaware that she had been rubbing lotion in on the same spot since the song began. She thought about them, how they had been doing the dance of teasing, tempting, and not crossing lines. But throughout their history, he was the one thread that kept her world sane and safe when things were falling apart.

_You are my heart, every breath I breathe  
>I'm safe in your arms, you rescue me.<br>When I'm weak, you're strong  
>If you were gone I don't know where I'd be<br>You were made for me  
>(You were made for me) <em>

Damn that Rule #12! If it wasn't for that rule, they could have already been together. They wouldn't have wasted so much time doing their dance. True, they didn't want to be split up at work because their team was their family. True, Gibbs was their "father", and neither one wanted to go behind his back. But something had to give. They needed to talk about the large hippo, or was it elephant, in the room.

_This life would kill me If I didn't have you  
>I couldn't live without you baby<br>I wouldn't want to  
>If you didn't love me so much<br>I'd never make it through  
>'Cuz this life would kill me<br>This life would kill me if I didn't have you_

Sighing, Ziva knew what she had to do. So she finished applying the lotion to her other leg. She sighed and said, "I'm tired of pretending." This was the line that Tony had said at an earlier date when they were in the elevator after a war game gone wrong.

_If you didn't love me so much  
>(If you didn't love me so much) <em>

"What brought that on?" Tony asked with his eyes still on her. He immediately knew that this was going to be the talk of all talks that was going to change his life, hopefully for the better.

_This Life would kill me If I didn't have you  
>(This life would kill me)<br>Couldn't live without you baby  
>I wouldn't want to<br>If you didn't love me so much  
>I'd never make it through<br>'Cuz This life would kill me  
>This Life would kill me if I didn't have you<em>

"The song that was on." Ziva said simply and then continued. "It hit home. I have already lost so much, and this life would kill me if I didn't have you."

She scooted up towards the top of the bed where Tony was stretched out. She curled down beside him. She looked up and noticed that he was still staring at her.

Unable to stop her self, she tilted her head up and pressed her lips gently to his. They staid like that and tested the first of many boundaries that they were sure to cross that night.

Tony's brain seemed to realize this was actually happening and not some crazy dream. Threading a hand through her still damp hair, he parted his lips against Ziva's. His tongue trailed slowly across her bottom lip. With a small gasp, she opened her mouth. Their tongues sought after each other in a frenzied kiss.

"Zi….are you sure you are ready?" Tony asked when they had to pull apart to get some air. He rolled onto his back, half dragging Ziva so that she was splayed across his chest.

"There is no one I would rather be with. My mourning is over." Ziva said. She shifted to straddle Tony, his hardening erection not missed by either of them.

They kissed more intently as Ziva ground her hips against Tony, both moaning at the pleasurable sensation. Tony took it one step farther and his large hand traveled downward and groped her ass, still covered by the towel. He started kissing her neck and stopped and paid attention to her exposed collarbone when she gave a pleased hum.

Before she knew it, he had flipped them over and she was lying on the bed underneath of Tony with him propped up on one arm.

As they resumed kissing, he slid his free hand into her towel. She arched into his touch. Goosebumps covered her skin beneath his touch.

Her hand roamed his back over his muscles, occasionally digging her nails in his back when he touched a sensitive spot.

Tony started kissing his way down her throat, stopping only at her most sensitive and favorite spots he still remembered from when they were undercover. Once he got to her towel, he opened it and started teasing and sucking at her right breast.

Ziva started whimpering and writhing to the sensation. Tony then switched to her left breast repeating his actions.

After he finished, his kisses continued south to her delicate folds. He could feel her heat. He licked her once savoring her taste. He then kissed, licked, and nipped her until he could feel her getting her closer and closer to the edge.

By this point, Ziva was panting and writhing in pleasure. She couldn't take it much longer.

Tony was still clad in only his boxers. He took off his boxers in one fluid motion his erection sprung forth, ready for a mission.

He climbed on top her of and was immediately flipped. "I told you I like to be on top." Ziva said straddling him. She kissed him deeply and reached down. She took hold of him. He gasped and moaned into her mouth.

She started stroking his full length while leaving a trail of kisses down his torso.

He thought he was in heaven when he felt her tease him by one slow lick up his length.

She started sucking and pleasuring Tony until she felt he was about ready to come. His balls grew heavy, and his grip on Ziva's hair tightened fractionally.

She got the message, stopped, and kissed her way back up.

Tony flipped her again to where she was on her back.

Then, they heard it. Two silent shots were fired into their window and the glass fell.

**AN: MAJOR cliff hanger! I know! Don't kill me yet, the best is to come! You know the drill, please read, review, alert, favorite, and review! By the way, the video for Thompson Square "If I Didn't Have You" can be found ****watch?v=UptgRHX4JsI**


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: Thank you all for keeping me alive! Disclaimer is that I still don't own anything, but I REALLY wish I did! Anyways, please enjoy!**

**WAYAMY27NARF – you have a gift in this chapter. ENJOY! **

**PREVIOUSLY ON NCIS**

_Then, they heard it. Two silent shots were fired into their window and the glass fell._

**REGULAR POV**

Tony and Ziva instinctively rolled off of the bed away from the window. Ziva managed to drag a sheet down with her. They ended up crouched in the floor, hearts beating wild.

Ziva quickly wrapped the sheet around herself while Tony stepped into his boxers since their clothes had been discarded around the room.

Tony looked at Ziva and said, "Whoever that is, I'm going to kill them."

"That won't be necessary." The unidentified man said coming through the window, gun trained on Tony and Ziva. "Get dressed and don't try anything."

Tony and Ziva slowly stood up. Tony made sure his body was between Ziva and the gunman. Tony quickly gathered their clothes and then got dressed. He then held the sheet in front of Ziva so she could get dressed without the prying eyes of the man wielding the gun. She could feel the terrible anger coming off Tony in waves.

"Let's go." The unidentified man said forcefully, while stepping further into the room.

Tony and Ziva both looked at each other and got ready to fight, but just as Tony was about to make his move, the unidentified cocked his gun and pointed it straight at Ziva daring Tony to try anything.

Defeated, Tony and Ziva left the room with the gunman and met Jerome outside. Ziva tried to resist, but every time she did, the gunmen would aim their guns at Tony. They all walked to the car, guns trained on the agents.

Once they got to the car, the unidentified man popped the trunk. He motioned for them to get in. Ziva felt a wave of panic and a flashback trying to surface. Luckily for her, Tony saw it surfacing in her eyes. He grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze.

Just about the time that Tony was going to climb in first, the unidentified man grabbed Ziva's ass. Ziva glared and jumped, but since there were guns trained on them, she just stared at Tony.

Tony stepped out and had Ziva get in first so he could at least put himself between her and the gunmen as much as possible. Before they could get somewhat comfortable, they shut the trunk.

Darkness enveloped the agents. Ziva's flashback was once again clawing its way back up. She was having trouble fighting the fear and the flashback. Tony sensed this and shifted so he was lying on his stomach. He put his left arm tightly around Ziva.

"We are going to be OK." Tony said soothingly in her ear. "I will protect you. Gibbs will find us. We are going to be OK." He could feel her attack residing with every reassuring promise.

After a couple minutes, Ziva weakly said, "Thank you Tony. I am sorry."

"Why are you sorry, sweet cheeks?" Tony asked keeping his arm tucked safely around her.

"I was trained in Mossad for situations like this. I let the past get in the way." Ziva replied embarrassed.

"It's OK and understandable. Even though you said your mourning is over, you are still healing emotionally and mentally. We all are." Tony said gently and truthfully.

Ziva turned her head and gave Tony a big kiss.

"Not that I didn't enjoy that, but what was that for?" Tony asked.

"For always knowing the right thing to say." Ziva replied. The darkness enveloped them once more with Tony and Ziva trying to figure out how to escape.

**WEST VIRGINIA STATE POLICE HEADQUARTERS**

"Sergeant Ball." Sergeant Ball answered the ringing of his cell phone. He was standing in the middle of a trashed room which was a crime scene.

"NCIS Special Agent Gibbs here." Gibbs said through the phone. It was now going on 10 AM and no word from either Ziva or Tony. He had been starting to get worried since his gut was telling him something was wrong.

"What can I do for you Agent Gibbs?" Sergeant Ball asked while stepping out of the scene before him.

"I am calling trying to locate two missing agents, which I believe you have met. Agents Ziva David and Tony DiNozzo were supposed to check in with me this morning and be on their way back. However, they aren't answering their phones and the trace says they are still in their hotel room." Gibbs said while sitting at his desk.

"Well, as luck would have it, I am at their hotel room." Sergeant Ball said not liking where this call was headed. "You might want to get down here."

"What's going on Sergeant?" Gibbs stood up tensely and so suddenly that it made McGee jump.

"Something that you should see for yourself. We will leave things where they are and wait for you." Sergeant Ball simply said feeling bad for this man that he had yet to meet. He knew that if roles were reversed he would feel better coming in and processing the scene for himself.

"We will be there in about 4 hours. Send me the address." Gibbs said and hung up. Turning his sights to McGee, he said, "Go pack a bag for a couple of days, and get back here ASAP."

"Where we going, Boss?" McGee asked standing up, getting his gun, and locking his drawers.

"West Virginia." Gibbs replied when stepping into the elevator. He needed to go tell Abby before she heard it any other way. He then had to tell Ducky, Palmer, and Vance.

McGee left shortly after Gibbs knowing that what happened wasn't good. His gut also said that Gibbs was going to break the news to Abby. He made sure to have his phone handy knowing that Abby would probably be calling him after.

Gibbs stepped off the elevator into Abby's lab and her music, though back on, was still playing quietly.

Gibbs stood there for a minute studying Abby preparing himself for breaking the news. Some of her perkiness had come back, but she was still worried about her family that was gone.

After a minute or two Gibbs made himself walk into the lab. He sat the Calf-Pow down in front of her and nudged her into the stool by the computer where she was working.

"Gibbs! What's going on?" Abby asked hesitantly. Her smile faded as she had a feeling something was going on and reached for Bert.

"Tony and Ziva are missing. McGee and I are going down to their hotel in West Virginia and head up locating them. I need you to be the brilliant Abby I know you are and find me something in what I send you. They don't have their phones. I am going to have McGee send you the information of the car of suspects. Track that for me." Gibbs said then gave her a kiss on the side of her temple.

Abby looked up at Gibbs from where she sat with watery eyes, and told Gibbs, "Find our family. Make sure they are safe."

"I will." Gibbs promised. He hated seeing his kids helpless, let alone two of them missing.

"Call me as soon as you find them, Gibbs." Abby demanded. She then held out her pinky finger and said, "Promise me."

Gibbs locked his pinky with hers and said, "I promise."

After one last kiss to her temple, Gibbs returned to the elevator once more and went down break the news to Ducky.

"Ah, Jethro. To what do I owe this honor?" Ducky said turning around from his desk as Gibbs walked in.

"Long story short, Tony and Ziva are missing." Gibbs said flatly.

"Oh dear." Ducky said with a heavy sigh.

"McGee and I are on our way to their hotel in West Virginia." Gibbs said and continued, "When you get finished studying that evidence, let me know ASAP."

"Will do. Now, go and find them. Be sure to let us know when you find them." Ducky said turning back around. He knew that this was hard on Gibbs since Gibbs was the father of the group. This hurt Ducky too because he felt as if he was the grandfather of the group.

"I will Duck." Gibbs said and stepped back to the elevator to go fill Vance in.

As the elevator quickly made its way to the top floor, Gibbs took a few calming breaths trying to calm is churning gut before the doors opened.

Gibbs stepped out onto the landing. He glanced down into the bullpen and noticed McGee was back. He made a mental note to have him load everything onto one of those stick memory things and bring it along as well as photos of Tony, Ziva, suspects, and victims.

He strode over to where Vance's secretary was sitting, and like usual, barged right into Vance's office. He knew that one time he was probably going to not like what he was going to see – but he would, until that time, just barge in. Plus, that's what Vance and his secretary already expected of him, and gave up trying to change.

"Would it kill you to knock?" Vance said from where he sat at his desk and not looking up from his paperwork.

"Probably Leon." Gibbs said closing the door.

"What's up?" Vance said sitting up and putting his pen and papers down.

"Well, I have two agents missing, a list of growing suspects, something the victim was working on that someone tried to wipe of his computer, and a call from the West Virginia State Police saying that I need to get down to the hotel where Tony and Ziva were staying." Gibbs said quickly summarizing his thoughts of what was going on.

"Well, go." Vance said. He stood up and walked around his desk. He then said, "Let me know what you find out."

"Will do. I'll have McGee send you a better update. I want to get on the road." Gibbs said opening the door.

"Let me know what I can do to help!" Vance quickly said. Their relationship was rocky at best, but Gibbs knew Vance would have his 'six.'

"I'll take you up on that soon." Gibbs said over his shoulder.

Gibbs made his way down to the bullpen and went to his desk.

"McGee, make sure you back up your files on the stick thing and get the pictures to go." Gibbs said.

"On it Boss." McGee said and immediately started on his tasks. He wanted to get going to find his missing "family" and make Abby happy again.

After a few minutes had passed, McGee announced he was done. Gibbs grabbed his gun, badge, and extra ammo along with his gear. This made McGee follow his lead only he had an extra duffle with extra clothes.

"We need to make one stop so I can grab my stuff then we will hit the road." Gibbs said as the elevator doors closed.

**MEANWHILE IN THE FRONT OF THE KIDNAPPERS CAR**

They had already driven about 3 hours on their six hour journey home when the uninjured man spoke, "I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired."

"I am too and after all, it's going on 1 o'clock in the morning." Jerome said.

They pulled off the interstate and into a small motel. Once they got their room, which they made sure was around back and by itself; they climbed wearily out of the car. Once out, the uninjured man kept watched while Jerome opened the trunk.

"They're gone! They're FUCKING gone!" Jerome yelled.

"What!?" The uninjured man quickly walked over and joined Jerome.

They were peering into the empty truck knowing that their futures were not looking so bright at the moment.

**AN: Well, what did you think? Are you wondering how they escaped? Well you are in luck; next chapter will be the escape. Please read, review, alert, favorite, and review!**


	20. AN

I know this isn't a new chapter, but I promise to continue. I am dealing with some very personal issues that I am struggling with, and it's wearing me down to where I can't deal with it so much. I do promise to start posting again no later than August. I do apologize for the delay, but like I said earlier, I haven't been doing so great for a while. Take care, and PLEASE stick around!


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